WORK AND PENSIONS

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in his Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not hold this information. However, departmental policy prohibits the donation of air miles, as all such rewards accrued through the conduct of public duties should be used to offset the cost of future business travel.

Employment Schemes

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to increase the hours worked by people who are underemployed in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit, to be introduced with an initial pathfinder starting in April 2013, will be a single benefit for people in and out of work that makes it easier and less risky for claimants to take up work. It also means that DWP will be able to interact with a much wider group of benefit claimants than ever before.
	Currently claimants of working tax credits receive them as a top-up to part-time earnings with no conditionality attached. The introduction of UC brings new opportunities for the Department to intervene with them and support earnings progression. We will, for the first time, be placing expectations on people who are in work but could earn more, and supporting them to do so.
	The more generous work allowances and the single taper within universal credit will significantly improve the current benefit system, providing claimants with meaningful and improved financial incentives to take up work.

English Language: Education

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) other income-related benefits took up the offer of free English language lessons in each of the last four years; how many places on English language courses were available in each of those years; and what the budget was for the provision of free English lessons in each of those years.

Matthew Hancock: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	We do not record information centrally on learners claiming benefits. The following table shows the numbers of all Skills for Life (including English and maths) aims and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) aims found to be taken up by learners who were on benefits at the start of learning. The figures are estimated based on learning data held by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills matched to benefits data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. Comparative data are only available for learning which began during the 2010-11 academic year.
	
		
			 Estimated Skills for Life and ESOL aims, by benefit type, 2010-11 
			  Jobseeker's allowance Other benefits 
			 Skills for Life 158,600 121,900 
			 ESOL 8,600 9,500 
			 Notes: 1. An aim is a course a learner is studying. 2. Jobseeker's allowance includes all elements—income-related and contributory based. 3. ‘Other benefits’ comprises employment and support allowance (all elements), incapacity benefit, income support, severe disablement allowance and pension credit. Some of these benefits are non-income-related benefits but it is not possible at the moment to accurately separately these. Source: Individualised Learner Record—Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study Matched Data 
		
	
	Investment Statements published by the Learning and Skills Council for the 2008/-09 and 2009-10 academic years set out budgets and learner volumes for Skills for Life (including both English and maths qualifications) broken down by Adult Learner Responsive and Employer Responsive categories, but budgets and volumes were not set for English language provision.
	Since the announcement of the single Adult Skills Budget in 2010, which replaced the Adult Learner Responsive and Employer Responsive budgets, colleges and providers have had the freedom and flexibility to respond to the needs of their local communities, learners and employers as they see fit. As such there is no budget set for English qualifications, nor are a set number of places made available.
	Qualifications in English are fully funded by Government for all adults aged 19 and over who need the acquire skills up to Level 2. The Government will continue to support ESOL in line with its wider priorities for skills.
	Information on the number of learners participating on Skills for Life and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 11 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	A summary of the work to date on matching further education and benefit claims data was published on 24 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/other_statistics_and_research/

Food Banks

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any Member of the Government intends to visit a food bank in the near future.

Mark Hoban: The information is not held centrally.

Food Banks

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Government has made of the demand for food banks across the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Glenrothes (Lindsay Roy) on 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 321W.

Food Banks: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many food banks there were in (a) Ashfield and (b) Nottinghamshire in each of the last three years.

Mark Hoban: DWP does not collate or hold information on the number of food banks.

Housing Benefit: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what working estimate was used by his Department for housing benefit fraud in each of the last four years; and what the level of detected housing benefit fraud was in each such year.

Mark Hoban: The estimate for housing benefit fraud in each of the last four years compared to the level of expenditure is as follows:
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimated housing benefit expenditure and overpayment due to fraud between 2008-09 and 2011-12 
			  Expenditure (£ billion) Fraud (£ million) 
			 2008-09 17.1 250 
			 2009-10 20.0 250 
			 2010-11 21.4 300 
			 2011-12 22.8 350 
			 Notes: 1. Expenditure rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion. 2. Fraud rounded to the nearest £10 million. Source: DWP National Statistics: Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2011-12, estimates released 29 November. 
		
	
	The Department does not collect information about the level of detected overpayments due specifically to fraud in housing benefit.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants per job vacancy in (a) Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.

Mark Hoban: The Department is aware of the challenges facing jobseekers in the labour market and has put in place a substantial package of support to help them move into work.
	Jobcentre Plus offers claimants a comprehensive menu of support including help with job search and referral to local skills provision. This is bolstered by a number of Get Britain Working measures including work experience and pre-employment training, volunteering, work clubs and support for those looking to start their own businesses.
	The Work programme provides tailored help for those claimants furthest from the labour market. Claimants with more challenging barriers to work can be referred early. Providers are paid on the results they achieve, and are paid more for supporting the hardest to help into sustained work.
	The Youth Contract provides new opportunities for unemployed young people, including additional support from Jobcentre Plus; wage incentives for employers recruiting eligible young people; and extra work experience places.

Jobseeker's Allowance: EU Nationals

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of jobseeker's allowance paid to non-UK EU citizens of each nationality, was in each of the last five years.

Mark Hoban: Information about the cost of jobseeker's allowance paid to non-UK EU citizens is not available because the UK's benefit payment systems do not currently record details of a claimant's nationality. Looking forward, the Government is considering ways of recording nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim to universal credit so that we have more robust management information about our claimants.

Maternity Pay

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of seasonal or part-time workers who do not receive maternity pay as a result of not being given work during their qualifying week in (a) Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.

Steve Webb: The Department does not have information that identifies seasonal and part-time workers separately from other economically active people with incomplete national insurance contributions over a tax year.

Personal Independence Payment

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he proposes that blind or partially-sighted people will quality for eight points under descriptor E when applying for the personal independence payment if they are able to use an aid or appliance at home to enable them to read standard text, but would be unable to read signs or symbols when out of the home; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: It is a principle of the PIP assessment that, where an individual satisfies more than one descriptor within an activity on the majority of days, the descriptor with the greatest number of points attached should be selected.
	Therefore, in the case of an individual who, on the majority of days, is able to read words using aids and appliances, such as a magnifier, but who is unable to read a sign, descriptor E would be the appropriate selection.

Remploy

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the reports of corruption during the sale of Remploy sites in Chesterfield, Springburn and Barrow; and if he will set up an independent inquiry into the closure of Remploy.

Esther McVey: The current commercial process for Remploy is a matter for the Remploy board, not the Department, and as such any requests for an investigation into this process should be raised directly with Remploy's Company Secretary. They can be contacted at
	company.secretariat@Remploy.co.uk
	I have seen no evidence to substantiate any of those allegations. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, they should present this to the Remploy board.

Social Fund

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the Discretionary Social Fund data, awards and spend for each local authority for (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09.

Steve Webb: The Discretionary Social Fund data for 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of (a) child benefit, (b) housing benefit and (c) jobseeker's allowance in Leeds North West constituency.

Steve Webb: The information requested for housing benefit recipients is available from a new visualisation tool Stat-Xplore published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	and jobseeker's allowance statistics by parliamentary constituency are available from claimant count data and are published on the NOMIS website at:
	https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/
	The information requested for child benefit is published by HMRC at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/child-geog-stats.htm

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in each local authority area whose weekly income will be reduced by (a) less than £20, (b) between £20 and £39.99, (c) between £40 and £59.99, (d) between £60 and £79.99, (e) between £80 and £99.99 and (f) over £100 through the introduction of (i) the benefit cap and (ii) the under-occupancy penalty.

Mark Hoban: The information is not available for the under-occupancy penalty. A national distribution of benefit reductions among affected claimants is available in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	A table showing a breakdown in bandwidths of £50 of the number of households who will be affected by local authority (LA), was placed in the House of Commons Library and can be found at:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1447/LocalAuthoritybreakdownaffectedbybenefitcap.doc
	An additional table showing the breakdown now requested will also be placed in the Library.
	The figures in the table assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work programme before the cap is introduced in April 2013.
	The recent disregarding of housing costs for those in supported exempt accommodation announced in the autumn statement cannot be allocated geographically therefore this has not been removed from the estimates presented here. This will reduce the figures in local authorities based on where these households are.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what effect the Joint Appeals Task Force has had on improving the quality of initial decision-making and the reconsideration process in respect of benefit claims.

Esther McVey: The Appeals Task Force was created in June 2010, in order to drive process and policy changes, thus enabling more effective and efficient decision-making and appeals, without compromising access to justice.
	Improvements that have been implemented due to the taskforce include:
	Introducing a Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) to measure the quality of decisions, including standard setting events, to support consistent application of QAF checking methodology;
	Random checking of “Fail to Attend Work” Capability Assessment decisions, to improve quality and drive consistency;
	Reconsideration telephone calls made by decision makers to claimants to further explain decisions and gather additional evidence to aid initial decision making;
	Introduction of appeals fast track processes, which incorporated the reconsideration process to improve and shorten the overall customer journey for certain types of jobseeker’s allowance labour market appeals. This was also aimed at improving the quality of evidence gathering at the reconsideration stage, as the shortened timeline meant that relevant questions were asked much sooner after the transgression;
	A national reconsideration exercise of employment and support allowance cases, which reviewed over 55,000 appeals listed at Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. As a result, almost 7,000 case decisions were revised following the application of revised processes. These processes include a telephone contact to gather evidence, and face to face advice from an Atos Healthcare professional. The telephone-based approach laid the foundation for similar calls in the initial decision making stage and at reconsideration;
	A trial to introduce health care professionals in benefit centres to provide face to face advice on complex cases. The trial was deemed to be highly beneficial in improving the quality of decisions; and
	Improved national communications via the introduction of a forum for decision makers to ask questions directly of the Head of Benefits and a panel of experts. That was aimed at ensuring consistency of message and process to aid quality decision-making. It has proved a popular and productive vehicle for communication and has now been running monthly for almost two years.
	In terms of our quality measures, data gathered between February and September 2012 showed that over 90% of decisions have met the required standard each month. Furthermore, of over 18,500 checks performed in the period, only 2% were identified in the checking sample where the overall decision was deemed to be incorrect.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were (a) convicted and (b) charged for but subsequently acquitted of each benefit fraud offence in each of the last four years; how many of those convicted of each type of offence in each such year were sentenced to (i) immediate custody and (ii) each other type of disposal; what the (A) mean average and (B) longest individual custodial sentence imposed in each such year was for each type of benefit fraud offence; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The number of people referred for prosecution by the Department for Work and Pensions for benefit fraud offences and the number convicted during the last four years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  People referred for prosecution People convicted(1) 
			 2008-09 11,408 6,700 
			 2009-10 10,783 7,040 
			 2010-11 11,040 8,598 
			 2011-12 10,358 9,861 
			 (1) The number of convictions in any one year will not relate to the same cases in that year because of the time lapse between referring a case for prosecution and the court hearing. 
		
	
	The information on sentencing is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed by his Department to investigate instances of fraud relating to (a) employment and support allowance and (b) other benefits in each of the last four years.

Mark Hoban: We are unable to show the number of staff employed to investigate instances of fraud by individual benefit.
	The following table shows the total number of staff employed by DWP to investigate instances of fraud for each of the last four years.
	
		
			 Fraud type activities totals 
			  FTE 
			 2008-09 3,673 
			 2009-10 3,621 
			 2010-11 3,659 
			 2011-12 3,845 
		
	
	The data is extracted from the JCP ABM Models 08/09, 09/10, 10/11 and the DWP ABM Operations Model 11/12.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-UK EU citizens of each nationality have been prosecuted for benefit fraud in the last five years.

Mark Hoban: The information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Immigrants

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total annual cost of welfare benefits issued to immigrants to the UK from the European Union in each of the last three years was; and whether any of these costs are refunded from the EU.

Mark Hoban: Information about the cost of benefits paid to immigrants is not available because the UK's benefit payment systems do not currently record details of a claimant's nationality. Looking forward, the Government is considering ways of recording nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim to universal credit so that we have more robust management information about our claimants.
	Reimbursement provisions only apply in the case of a claim for contribution-based jobseeker's allowance from UK residents who have worked in another EU member state. Under the EU social security co-ordination regulations, the UK can claim reimbursement from another member state for up to five months jobseeker's allowance payments if someone has worked and contributed the equivalent of national insurance contributions in another member state, but has returned to the UK and is habitually resident here.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his contribution of 8 January 2013, Official Report, column 190, 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the financial effect on the income of disabled people of restricting benefit rises to one per cent over the next three years;
	(2)  how many disabled people will be affected by the changes in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill in (a) the UK and (b) each parliamentary constituency.

Steve Webb: An impact assessment of the measures contained within the 2013-14 Up-rating Order, which includes the impact on disabled households, will be published when it is laid later this month.
	For 2014-15 and 2015-16, the Department published an impact assessment on 8 January 2013 which covered the impacts of the uprating changes covered by the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.
	The Department estimates that there is no financial effect from the Bill on approximately 66% of households where someone describes themselves as disabled.
	The Department estimates that approximately 34% of households where someone describes themselves disabled are affected by this Bill with an average change of income of around -£3 a week in 2015-16 compared to uprating by the consumer prices index (CPI).
	This represents around 3.4 million households in Great Britain.
	It is not possible to provide information for United Kingdom or for each parliamentary constituency level.
	Notes:
	1. These estimates have been made using the Department's Policy Simulation Model, which is based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS), and is consistent with the impact assessment which was published in January 2013.
	2. Numbers rounded to the nearest 1% or 0.1 million households.
	3. Disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act/Equality Act (2010).

Unemployment: Tower Hamlets

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged 25 and under in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency and (b) Tower Hamlets have been unemployed for (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people aged 25 and under in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency and (b) Tower Hamlets have been unemployed for (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months. (136616)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested age bands, durations and geographies are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the number of persons, aged 16 to 24 years, in line with our normal age bands, claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), in the requested geographies, for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months and (d) 24 months and over, for the latest period available. The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number(1) of 16 to 24-year-olds claiming jobseeker's allowance for (a) up to 6 months, (b) 6 to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months, and (d) over 24 months, in Bethnal Green and Bow and Tower Hamlets, November 2012 
			 People aged 16 to 24 years(2) Up to 6 months 6 to 12 months 12 to 24 months 24 months and over 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,030 320 480 90 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 1,010 150 215 40 
			 (1 )Data rounded to the nearest 5. (2 )Age data are only available for computerised claims, which account for 99.7% of all claims.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what proportion of universal credit applications his Department, or its identity assurance contractors, expect to inspect original birth certificates, tenancy agreements, immigration documents and other similar documents; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: In the early stages of the introduction of universal credit the Department expects to look at the identity verification documents for all new claimants.

Work Capability Assessment

Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will exempt recipients of Skipton Fund Stage 2 payments from the back-to-work assessment process;
	(2)  which conditions are exempt from the back-to-work assessment process;
	(3)  how many recipients of Skipton Fund Stage 2 payments have been required to undertake a back-to-work assessment; what the outcome was in each case; how many claimants appealed the decision; and what the outcome was in each case.

Mark Hoban: Eligibility for employment and support allowance (ESA) is based on an individual’s functional capability rather than their health condition or disability. We have no current plans to change to eligibility criteria for the Support Group of ESA.
	However, a wide range of ways in which claimants can qualify for the Support Group already exist in legislation including being terminally ill. Existing processes ensure that, where possible, relevant information in support of a claim is gathered before any face-to-face assessment takes place which is then used to place individuals into the Support Group where they meet the criteria.
	It is important to recognise that any health condition will affect people in different ways, manifest by a wide spectrum of symptoms and functional effects. That is why we assess each case individually to determine if someone is entitled to benefit and whether it is appropriate to help them prepare for a return to work.
	The data requested are not held by the Department in the requested format—we do not collect data on Work Capability Assessment outcomes on Skipton Fund Stage 2 receipts.

Work Experience: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have participated in the Government's work experience schemes in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) Tower Hamlets and (c) London in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: From January 2011 up to and including May 2012 there were (a) 110 starts to work experience placements in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) 220 starts in Tower Hamlets and (c) 7,460 starts in London.
	These figures are based upon official Get Britain Working statistics available at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/pwp/pwp_gbw_aug12.pdf

Working Tax Credit: Wirral

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Wirral South constituency and (b) Wirral receive working tax credit and what (i) mean and (ii) mode amounts were disbursed in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	The latest data for the number of families in receipt of working tax credit, broken down by constituency and local authority, is the provisional tax credit statistics from December 2012. This can be found here
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/prov-geog-stats.htm#2
	and has been replicated as follows in Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of families receiving WTC 
			 Thousands 
			  WTC & CTC WTC only 
			 Wirral South constituency 1.6 0.5 
			 Wirral Local Authority 9.7 3.8   
		
	
	The average annual tax credit entitlement (mean and modal) in these two regions is shown in Table 2. This is also based on data held at December 2012. As tax credit claims for the year have not yet been finalised, these figures are based on claimants' estimated annual entitlement, based on their reported circumstances as at December 2012.
	
		
			 Table 2: Mean and modal average tax credit entitlement for recipients in designated regions 
			 £ 
			  Mean Modal 
			 Wirral South constituency 6,175 3,245 
			 Wirral Local Authority 6,300 3,245 
		
	
	The figures in the table represent the average entitlement across all tax credits claimants in the respective regions, not just those receiving working tax credit. The amount paid to recipients will not necessarily be equal to this, as payments will also be dependant on any previous over or underpayments; however these data are only available at disproportionate cost.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Ecology: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has provided funding for any ecological project in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010.

Richard Benyon: Through Natural England, the Forestry Commission, the Environment Agency and working in partnership with non-government organisations, local authorities and land managers, DEFRA funding has supported a significant number of projects within this constituency.
	For example, funding is provided for the Morecambe Bay Nature Improvement Area, one of only 12 such areas nationally to receive Government support, and 12 Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Funding is provided to enhance the natural environment, through agri-environment schemes under Environmental Stewardship and the English Woodland Grant Scheme.
	Other projects include the North West Strategic Eel Project; Lancashire-wide work to carry out an invasive non-native species control action plan on the Lune catchment; and the Catchment Sensitive Farming Initiative, which aims to improve bathing water quality in Morecambe Bay and will also help improve the status of water courses in the Lune catchment.
	Morecambe Bay is also a European marine site, and to assist in meeting requirements under the European Habitats Directive, Natural England has recently funded a monitoring contract in Morecambe Bay to gather evidence on the condition of the intertidal habitats.

Flood Control

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 336W, on flood control, if he will give examples of the additional forms of innovation that projects receiving funding from the Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder scheme will be expected to demonstrate.

Richard Benyon: The Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder scheme is designed to encourage local authorities and their partners to think creatively about how local community and household resilience to flooding could be improved.
	On 6 December 2012, a brochure describing the scheme was published on the DEFRA website. This gave examples of the types of approaches that may be eligible. These include projects that install property level protection measures coupled with a wider package of innovative community measures; improving local flood risk mapping and modelling where existing data sets may not accurately capture the local level of risk; projects inspiring communities to become more active participants in their flood management by supporting practical measures such as “gully watch” schemes or installation of local monitoring equipment; and disseminating information or carrying out local exercises to improve flood awareness and preparedness.

Floods: Bury St Edmunds

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) homes and (b) businesses were at risk of flooding in Bury St Edmunds constituency in each of the last five years; and whether any changes between years can be attributed to mitigation measures.

Richard Benyon: The number of properties at risk of flooding is shown in the table. The information is for properties that are at risk from an extreme event. An extreme event is classed as an event with a 0.1% chance of occurring in any one year. This data set does not differentiate between residential homes and businesses.
	
		
			  Number of properties 
			 2008 2,171 
			 2009 2,170 
			 2010 3,096 
			 2011 2,449 
			 2012 2,449 
		
	
	The changes between years can be attributed to refinements in the Environment Agency's understanding of risk and the techniques available to them to map risk. These factors have had an impact on the number of properties deemed to be at risk, though the actual level of flood risk has remained unchanged.
	Based on the latest available data there are no properties considered to be at significant risk, where the chance of flooding in any year is greater than 1.3% (or 1 in 75), in Bury St. Edmunds. Therefore no new flood risk management schemes have been identified. Flood defence grant in aid spending is prioritised to providing schemes for areas at greatest risk of flooding.
	The Environment Agency carries out regular work to maintain existing levels of protection. This has included the removal of 450m3 of accumulated silt from the River Lark in the centre of Bury St Edmunds (Eastgate Ward) in July 2010.

Floods: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to prevent flooding in the Hest Bank area in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency is having ongoing discussions with Lancaster city council, Lancashire county council and United Utilities. They are looking to reduce flood risk through the new. M6-Heysham Link Road. This will present the opportunity to increase the capacity of the current surface water sewer along Hest Bank Road and connect it to the M6-Heysham Link Road drainage. The M6-Heysham Link Road may offer capacity for ground and surface water in Slyne, Hest Bank to be drained away from the area, thereby reducing flood risk.

Floods: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many properties were assessed to be at risk of flooding in each major settlement in Vale of Clywd constituency in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: This is a devolved matter and as such it is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. I would advise the hon. Member to write to the Welsh Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development.

Food

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of household incomes was spent on food by households in each income decile in each of the last three financial years.

David Heath: The percentage of spend on food and non-alcoholic drinks for UK household supplies is collected through the Family Spending Survey. The following table shows figures for 2009 to 2011 on an equivalised income basis.
	Equivalised income is used to show incomes of all households on a comparable basis. To calculate equivalised income using the ‘Modified OECD’ equivalence scale, each household member is given an equivalence value.
	
		
			 Percentage spend on food and non-alcoholic drinks for household suppliesfrom 2009 to 2011 for UK households by equivalised income 
			  Income deciles 
			  Lowest 10% 2nd decile group 3rd decile group 4th decile group 5th decile group 6th decile group 7th decile group 8th decile group 9th decile group Highest 10% All households 
			 2009 15.6 16.7 14.8 14.2 12.9 12.6 11.2 10.8 9.7 7.6 11.5 
			 2010 15.0 16.7 14.7 13.7 12.9 12.0 11.4 10.5 9.2 7.4 11.2 
			 2011 16.3 17.0 14.1 13.8 12.7 11.9 11.2 10.3 9.6 7.7 11.3 
			 Source: Living Costs and Food Surrey (LCFS), Family Spending, ONS

Fossil Fuels: Reserves

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the ability of the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England to measure climate change risk to UK financial markets without using forward-looking data on the greenhouse gas potential of companies' fossil fuel reserves.

Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) considers a diverse spectrum of risks to the financial system as part of its deliberations, and is presented with a broad array of data and market intelligence. Should the FPC conclude, at any point, that climate change does pose a systemic risk to the financial system, they will report and explain that risk in their six-monthly Financial Stability Report.

Fossil Fuels: Reserves

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the potential effects of an obligation requiring listed companies to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions potential from fossil fuel reserves on the ability of the Government to monitor progress towards meeting its climate change objectives.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), has frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of important issues including climate change.

Insecticides

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to his Department's website information on neonicotinoid insecticides and bees, which interested parties will be involved in the analysis of the wider environmental and agronomic implications of possible restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid products.

Richard Benyon: The analysis is intended to look at what might happen if access to neonicotinoids was restricted. This will include consideration of the environmental consequences of switching to alternative pesticides and of the economic consequences of restrictions.
	We do not have all the economic and agronomic information needed for this assessment. To gather this information, the Health and Safety Executive's Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD), the pesticides regulator, has had discussions with Bayer CropScience Ltd and Syngenta UK Ltd (two of the major data holders for neonicotinoid substances), the National Farmers Union, the Crop Protection Association and the Agricultural Industries Confederation.
	The contacts with interested parties have only extended to gathering information. The analysis itself will be carried out by CRD and DEFRA and will be reviewed through advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides.

Insecticides

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the terms of reference of his Department's analysis of the wider environmental and agronomic implications of possible restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid products referred to in the neonicotinoid insecticides and bees section of his Department's website.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has made it very clear that it takes the concerns raised about neonicotinoids and pollinators very seriously and will take action if the evidence shows a need. Up to this point, DEFRA's assessment has been that the evidence—in particular the field data—does not call for action. We are, however, continuing to address key gaps in the evidence and will review our position in the light of this.
	If DEFRA were to decide to take regulatory action, we would need to ensure that the measures taken would be effective in removing unacceptable risks from neonicotinoids. We would also need to avoid undesirable consequences for the environment and to ensure that action is proportionate.
	We are therefore carrying out work to help us to understand better the likely consequences of possible regulatory options, including the implications of alternative pesticides or pest control measures being used.

Insects

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission research into the cost of replacing insect pollination with artificial means.

Richard Benyon: There have already been a number of relevant studies in this area. A report published by Reading university in 2012 put the estimate of the cost of replacing natural pollination with hand pollination, which is impractical for most crops, at £1.8 billion, although the detailed methodology has not yet been published. We have no immediate plans to repeat this type of research and our focus has been funding of research to provide an evidence base for the conservation of wild bees, managed honey bees and other insect pollinators through, for example, the Insect Pollinators Initiative.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 530, on live animal exports, if he will publish the reasons that each firm in Ramsgate served with a statutory notice was so treated.

David Heath: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency have served 30 Statutory Notices at Ramsgate Port, for one or more of the following reasons:
	Animal(s) unfit to travel
	Water system not operational
	No means to measure the water level in the tank
	Mechanical ventilation not fully functional
	Insufficient headroom
	Partitions need securing
	Journey times exceeded
	Delays to journeys due to insufficient planning/co-ordination
	No Transporter Authorisation or Vehicle Approval
	Overall vehicle height exceeded EU operating height
	Vehicles not adequately maintained and being operated in a manner which may cause injury.

Livestock: Transport

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the long-term monitoring of the export of live animals through the port of Ramsgate.

David Heath: I have held no discussions with ministerial colleagues on the long-term monitoring of the export of live animals from Ramsgate. However, DEFRA officials are in regular contact with the Department for Transport on matters relating to the legislation governing the conduct of trade through ports. In addition, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) which is DEFRA's delivery partner maintains a working relationship at the port of Ramsgate with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, also a part of the Department for Transport.

Phytophthora Ramorum

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Phytophthora ramorum on the sitka spruce harvest in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: We have not made an assessment because Sitka spruce is not directly affected by Phytophthora ramorum. Movement control measures for infected larch sites can affect the movement of spruce timber growing in close proximity to larch but the volume of spruce being felled under statutory Plant Health Notices will not have a significant affect on the UK timber market and overall timber production.

Phytophthora Ramorum

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of Phytophthora ramorum; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: DEFRA is funding a £20 million five-year programme to reduce the impact of Phytophthora ramorum and P. kernoviae. The business case which supported this programme was reviewed in 2010 following the finding of Phytophthora ramorum in larch. In the revised business case the programme was estimated to have an overall benefit of £77.1 million over 20 years in terms of the costs saved for business and the social and environment benefits of protecting landscapes. The net economic benefit of the programme over 20 years was estimated at £62.8 million. Economists stressed that various benefits could not be monetised, and that the figures were uncertain and liable to change.
	The Phytophthora programme is currently subject to an external review, which will report in spring 2013, and will be used as the basis for proposals on future policy for the management of these harmful organisms.

Plastic Bags

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he intends to introduce a levy on single-use carrier bags.

Richard Benyon: We are currently monitoring developments in other parts of the UK. This includes the results from the introduction of the charging scheme in Wales, Northern Ireland's plan to launch a charge from April 2013 and the outcome of the Scottish consultation on a charge.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

Richard Benyon: An online staff magazine is produced 10 times a year.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  whether he has recently given consideration to the suitability of biomass as a sustainable source of energy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of biomass; if the Government will give consideration to reviewing its policy on biomass; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The use of biomass to generate electricity and combined heat and power is good for our energy security; it makes a cost-effective contribution to a decarbonised energy mix and draws on a wide range of biomass sources to provide a controllable energy supply to help balance variable generation such as wind and solar. As set out in the 2012 UK Renewable Energy Roadmap, bioenergy is an important part of the Government's plans to meet the renewable energy directive objectives in 2020. Investment in new biomass generation will also create green jobs and business opportunities across the fuel supply chain.
	We are committed to ensuring that the biomass used for energy, whether for heat, electricity or transport, in the UK is sustainable, cost-effective and does not give rise to unintended consequences. The Government's UK Bioenergy Strategy, published in April 2012, sets a framework of principles to guide the development of future UK bioenergy policy in a way that will secure its benefits, while managing its risks. This strategy was underpinned by extensive analysis of a wide range of evidence regarding the use of biomass for energy including commissioned research on the carbon impacts of different uses of biomass, and has been taken into account when determining our approach to the support for biomass electricity through the renewables obligation.

Biofuels

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of appropriate and sustainable supplies of fuel stocks for UK biomass plants; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: Analysis carried out for the UK Bioenergy Strategy (published in April 2012) indicated that total domestic and imported bioresource supply to the UK could range between 200-650 TWh in 2020 and 200-550 TWh in 2050. This range suggests sustainably sourced bioenergy could contribute around 8-11% to the UK's total primary energy demand by 2020 and around 12% by 2050 (within a wide range of 8% to 21%). This conclusion is consistent with many other studies. International supplies, particularly from North America, will be a key contributor to this deployment. Further information on this analysis can be found in the UK Bioenergy Strategy and the accompanying Analytical Annex.
	As part of the Government Response to the RO Banding Review (published July 2012), DECC published an Impact Assessment which included consideration of the impact of its proposals on sustainably sourced wood resources. Building on the analysis developed for the Bioenergy Strategy, this suggested that potential resources available to the UK should be sufficient to meet both energy and wood products demand for woody biomass. Clearly, future demand for wood from other sectors and future supply, especially from imports, is extremely difficult to predict. DECC will work closely with biomass electricity generators to ensure robust monitoring measures are in place for biomass feedstocks to provide early warning of supply risks from the electricity sector.

Biofuels

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy that electricity generated from bioliquids derived from palm oil does not receive subsidies under the renewables obligation.

John Hayes: Member states cannot impose additional sustainability criteria on bioliquids over and above those set out in the EU's renewable energy directive, when determining eligibility for financial support under the renewables obligation. This means that the Government cannot, on sustainability grounds, remove support under the renewables obligation for electricity generated from bioliquids derived from palm oil that meet the sustainability criteria.
	The electricity generated from bioliquids which is supported under the renewables obligation has contributed to the increased delivery of sustainable renewable energy. Ofgem's annual sustainability report of 2011-12 indicates that no palm oil was supported under the renewables obligation, and the vast majority of bioliquids used in that period are reported as being derived from wastes or residues. All bioliquids used to generate electricity supported under the renewables obligation are subject to mandatory sustainability criteria and following the recent banding review a 4% cap is being introduced on the proportion of their renewables obligation that suppliers can meet using renewables obligation certificates issued for electricity generated from bioliquids.

Biofuels

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2012, Official Report, column 817W, on biofuels, if he will include data on feedstock types for bioliquid power plants on his Department's renewable energy planning database.

John Hayes: The Renewable Energy Planning Database captures information about proposed renewable energy generating stations which require planning permission. The database is a live information system which we keep it under review and improve from time to time.
	Biomass is a versatile fuel that can be used in renewable energy projects in a variety of ways and from many different sources. Before amending the database to include additional fields, we would need to be satisfied that the additional information could be collected in a consistent and accurate manner to a standard applicable to the database and with due regard to costs.
	Generating stations who claim support for biomass under the renewables obligation are required to report information about the fuel under Article 54 of the Renewables Obligation Order, including information about the type of biomass used. Ofgem collate this data in an annual biomass sustainability report and publish it on their website:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=366&refer=Sustainability/Environment/RenewablObl/FuelledStations/ro-sustainability

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations in the public and private sector, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Department publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx

Electricity Generation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of future revenue to the Exchequer that could be accrued from a contract for difference counterparty surplus.

John Hayes: Payments under the contract for difference are funded through the supplier obligation which will be delivered through secondary regulations and collected by the CfD counterparty. The CfD counterparty will be a not-for-profit organisation. Clause 5 of the Draft Energy Bill sets out that the supplier obligation regulations are made for the purposes of enabling payments of CfDs and funds can only be collected from suppliers for this purpose or for funding the costs of the body. It would therefore be unlawful for them to be used to generate revenue to be retained by the Exchequer.
	The Government is considering implementing a variable rate obligation whereby the precise amounts owed to the generators under the CfDs in a given period (such as a month) are collected by the CfD counterparty from suppliers as soon as possible after that period and passed swiftly through to generators. This does not lead to surpluses or deficits in the amount of payment collected from suppliers, and minimises the need for adjustment payments.
	We are interested in the impact of the proposed approach on the supplier obligation, and we are seeking views through a call for evidence. This will inform our decisions and design of the obligation but under any scenario it is not our intention that the CfD will raise any revenue for the Exchequer.

Energy

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from which providers his Department purchases its gas and electricity; what the cost of purchasing this fuel during the previous three financial years was; and what the carbon emissions for his Department during this period were.

Gregory Barker: DECC's London estate comprises 3 Whitehall Place, London and, since July 2011, 55 Whitehall, London. Since 1 April 2012, DECC has purchased electricity and gas for its London estate from EDF and Corona respectively. Prior to this date electricity was supplied by Scottish Hydro Electric and gas by Total.
	For its office in Atholl House, Aberdeen DECC purchases its electricity and gas from EDF and Corona respectively.
	The cost of purchasing and carbon emissions for the previous three financial year were:
	
		
			 FY Electricity costs (£) Gas costs (£) Greenhouse gas emissions CO2e (t) 
			 2011-12 164,247 13,774 l,051 
			 2010-11 203,723 19,122 l,135 
			 2009-10 200,352 29,926 1,451 
		
	
	The emissions are for the core Department under the scope of the Greening Government Commitments (greenhouse gas emissions from estate and domestic business travel).

Garages and Petrol Stations

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the report produced for his Department by Deloitte, Study of the UK petroleum retail market, published on 14 December 2012, whether he will publish his response to this report and any action he intends to take following its publication.

John Hayes: DECC commissioned this report in order to develop a detailed factual picture of the petroleum retailing sector in the UK to identify and analyse the key business drivers influencing development across the sector, to consider the changing shape of the retail fuel market in the UK, and to consider whether such changes have implications for resilience of retail fuel supplies to the public, and/or in the longer term have security of supply related impacts.
	My officials will work with industry and the trade associations to discuss the findings from the report and to consider next steps for industry and Government. This will include considering the findings from the OFT's Call for Information into this sector, due to be published this month.

Green Deal Scheme

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the average upfront assessment fee householders will pay to upgrade their home as part of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal is a market mechanism and we expect a range of different delivery models to develop. Some provider or assessor organisations may offer assessments at no upfront cost; others are charging the customer the full cost of the assessment upfront; others will waive or refund the fee in full or part in certain circumstances.
	The impact assessment carried out by DECC modelled an indicative figure for the cost of the domestic Green Deal assessment to be £112.50, but DECC has made no estimate of the average upfront fee to the consumer, given the range of approaches likely in the market.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 142W, on the Green Deal scheme, what measures have been put in place as a result of the accreditation process to prevent Gemserv (a) shareholders and (b) board members from influencing recommendations about other Green Deal participants made by the Oversight and Registration Body.

Gregory Barker: The Oversight and Registration Body (ORB) holds the register of authorised assessors and installers, but is not responsible for recommendations for their authorisation. This process is carried out by independent certification bodies, who themselves have to be accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ensure open and consistent standards. For providers, the ORB follows a robust process for recommending approval which has been determined by the Department with the procedures to be followed publically available at:
	www.gov.uk/become-green-deal-business
	The decision on whether to approve a provider application is taken by the Department, not the ORB, but based on the information gathered by the ORB.
	In addition to the above, it is also a fundamental condition of the Department's contract with Gemserv that they must not favour any Green Deal participant over any other, and must ensure that no conflict of interest arises in the performance of these services.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to ensure that local communities benefit from the construction and operation of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C other than through a section 106 agreement.

John Hayes: The Government is currently considering proposals for a community benefits package for sites that host new nuclear power stations. Details of the package will be issued accordingly.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 1 November 2012 on the manufacture of smart meters.

Gregory Barker: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my noble Friend Baroness Verma, has now replied to the hon. Member for Warley, and I apologise for the delay in doing so.

Publications

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how often his Department produces a staff magazine.

Gregory Barker: DECC does not produce a staff magazine.

Wind Power

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on whether businesses engaged in erecting wind farms are required to have an insurance policy against the decommissioning of such wind farms at a later date.

John Hayes: DECC’s policy is that wind farm developers should put in place suitable financial mechanisms to cover the costs of decommissioning their projects. In the case of onshore wind farms, the nature of those mechanisms is determined in discussions between the developer and the relevant local authority on a case-by-case basis. For offshore projects, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), will determine what provides suitable security based on the merits of the case.

Wind Power

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the (a) total cost and (b) cost per wind turbine of decommissioning existing (i) onshore and (ii) offshore turbines; and how he intends any such cost to be met.

John Hayes: There are no estimates available for the total cost of decommissioning existing onshore wind farms or individual turbines.
	For offshore wind farms, the developers of some projects have provided estimates for the costs of removing their wind farms. On the basis of those figures, the current estimated cost of removing those 'in the water' projects which have been completed so far is approximately £182 million (net). These total costs which include removal of offshore sub-stations and electric lines average out at £264,000 per turbine.
	The costs of decommissioning onshore and offshore wind farms are met by the developers of the projects in question.

Wind Power: Carmarthenshire

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to visit north Carmarthenshire before making his decision on the Brechfa West Wind Farm planning application.

Gregory Barker: I have no plans to visit north Carmarthenshire before the decision on the proposed Brechfa Forest West planning application is taken.

Wind Power: Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the costs being borne by Welsh local authorities defending refusal decisions on wind farm applications over 50 megawatts at public inquiry over the last three years.

Gregory Barker: The cost of defending their objections to wind farm applications at public inquiry is a matter for the relevant local authorities.

WALES

Higher Education

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister of Wales on widening access strategies in Welsh higher education; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: Access to higher education in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government. The UK Government takes every opportunity to make clear that Britain remains open for business, and that talented international students are welcome here. The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones) discussed access to higher education with vice-chancellors of higher education institutions in Wales in November.

Higher Education: Research

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister of Wales on the level of research funding obtained by the Welsh higher education sector; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: The UK Government is responsible for Research Council funding which is awarded on the basis of applications made by individual researchers, subject to independent expert peer review. Awards are made on the basis of the research potential and are irrespective of geographical location. The Welsh Government is responsible for providing core quality related research funding for higher education institutions in Wales. The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), discussed UK Research Council funding with vice-chancellors of higher education institutions in Wales in November.

Higher Education: Research

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the level of research funding obtained by the Welsh higher education sector; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), has exchanged letters with the Minister for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts), on this issue and has also discussed UK Research Council funding with vice-chancellors of higher education institutions in Wales in November.
	The UK Government is responsible for Research Council funding which is awarded on the basis of applications made by individual researchers, subject to independent, expert peer review. Awards are made on the basis of the research potential and are irrespective of geographical location. The Welsh Government is responsible for providing core quality related research funding for higher education institutions in Wales.

Pneumonia

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 690W, on pneumonia, when he will write providing the figures for deaths from hospital-acquired pneumonia at University Hospital Wales Cardiff in each of then last five years.

David Jones: The information required is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Lady separately.

River Severn

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with environmental bodies in Wales on the proposal for a Severn Barrage; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Energy and Climate Change and (b) Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposal for a Severn Barrage; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with (a) the First Minister of Wales and (b) local authority leaders in South Wales on the proposal for a Severn Barrage; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what recent discussions he has had with (a) university research departments in Wales and (b) engineering and construction companies in Wales on the proposal for a Severn Barrage; and if he will make a statement.

David Jones: I have had various discussions on the Severn Barrage with a range of interested individuals and organisations. The Government welcomes proposals for all types of tidal range projects (barrages and lagoons etc.) in the bays and estuaries around our coasts; however, all proposals need to be considered carefully with respect to the capital cost, energy cost and any environmental, economic and social impacts.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 331W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in the House of Commons service.

John Thurso: The House of Commons Service is currently revising the policy and guidance on workplace stress. As part of this work, the House Service is considering the contribution mindfulness-based practice could make to reducing work place stress and staff absences. It is likely that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy will be used where appropriate, as recommended by the current NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression in adults.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Prosecutions: Appeals

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions the Crown Prosecution Service has reconsidered a decision not to prosecute following an appeal by the alleged victim since July 2012.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) complaints handling procedure currently incorporates requests from victims to have decisions not to prosecute reconsidered. However, the number of decisions reconsidered since July 2012 is not recorded separately within the complaints handling system and these data cannot be reasonably obtained locally or nationally without reviewing individual complaint records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

SCOTLAND

Business

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of the Start-Up Loans scheme in Scotland.

David Mundell: The Start-Up Loans scheme is an England-only initiative and does not operate in Scotland. As a result of the Government's decision, announced in the autumn statement, to provide follow-on funding for the scheme, the Scottish Government was allocated more than £7 million in Barnett consequentials. It is for the Scottish Government to decide how that money is spent in Scotland.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Mundell: No such meetings have taken place.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department paid to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office did not use Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 or (c) 2012.

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many research contracts commissioned by his Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Mundell: No research contracts were commissioned by the Scotland Office in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 318W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in his Department.

David Mundell: All Scotland Office staff are on secondment from other Government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice and are covered by absence management policies of their parent bodies.
	While absence levels in the Scotland Office are low, local managers keep sickness absences under constant review and apply the relevant departmental policies, ensuring that staff have access to appropriate advice and assistance through an occupational health care provider, which provides professional, independent medical guidance.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 217W, on sick leave, if she will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in her Department.

Michael Penning: Each occurrence of sick leave in my Department is managed on a case by case basis in line with existing policies and procedures. No specific assessment of the use of mindfulness-based therapies has been planned.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services: Information and Communications Technology

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider promoting a specific fund for the installation of audio-visual announcements in all buses nationwide.

Norman Baker: I understand the social benefits of having such systems on buses for all bus users and have written to bus operators to encourage them to work in partnership with their local authorities, to see if the uptake of these systems can be increased on a voluntary basis.
	As part of the Government's Olympic and Paralympic legacy, the Department for Transport is currently looking at a number of ways of improving the accessibility of public transport, as reflected in our Accessibility Action Plan published on 12 December 2012.

Bus Services: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated for the provision of bus services in the Nottinghamshire County Council area in each financial year since 2009-10.

Norman Baker: Nottinghamshire County Council can procure tendered local bus services where commercial routes are not viable. As funding is provided through the main Local Government Formula Grant, an unhypothecated block grant allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, it is not possible to say how much is allocated to Nottinghamshire County Council for the provision of bus services.
	The Department for Transport allocated Nottinghamshire County Council £926,959 in 2009-10 and £950,727 in 2010-11 in Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) for the provision of additional local bus services to rural communities. In 2010/11 and 2011/12, the Department made two payments of £158,455 with the aim of kick-starting and supporting community transport as part of the Supporting Community Transport Fund.
	Bus operators running local registered bus services in the Nottinghamshire County Council area are able to claim Bus Service Operators Grant. Although data relating to the amount claimed by operators is not available broken down by local authority area, the following links provide information on payments made to individual operators for claims covering the periods up to (i) 31 March 2010 and (ii) 31 March 2011.
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110504135837/http:/www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/buses/busgrants/bsog/661224
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3258/bsog-grants-paid-2011.pdf

Green Flag

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultation (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department had with (i) the Chief Executive of Green Flag and (ii) the RBS group on the restructuring of Green Flag and its tendering processes for contracted vehicle recovery firms in 2010 to 2012.

Stephen Hammond: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published every quarter and information can be accessed on the gov.uk website via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data
	Information covering the period up to the end of December 2012 will be published in due course.

Lichfield Trent Valley Station

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when Lichfield Trent Valley rail station will be upgraded to enable disabled access to those platforms at the station which are currently inaccessible to disabled passengers and those with heavy luggage; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: We are committed to improving access to railway stations and last summer announced a further £100 million to extend the Access for All programme from 2015 until 2019. We will be working with the industry and local authorities to select stations for the extended programme this year and, although I cannot guarantee that Lichfield Trent Valley will be chosen, it will be considered along with other currently inaccessible stations across the country.

London Midland

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the performance of London-Midland trains between 24 December 2012 and 2 January 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: On 20 December 2012 the Secretary of State made a statement to the House where he announced a series of measures the Department negotiated with London Midland to ensure that a reliable passenger service is restored as quickly as possible and also to help compensate passengers who have suffered over the past 3 months during the disruption.
	London Midland has implemented a number of remedial measures, including improvements in the use of train crew through more efficient ‘diagramming' of their shifts, implemented at the December timetable change on 9 December 2012. Performance figures between 9 and 24 December 2012, as well as during the first few days of January 2013 provide some early indication that these measures are beginning to have the desired positive effect.
	I regret to say, however, that between 24 December 2012 and 2 January 2013 London Midland experienced a high number of cancellations, particularly on 24 and 31 December, largely as a result of a number of drivers calling in sick at short notice leading to a shortage of available drivers. During the period from 24 to 31 December 2012 more than 8% of London Midland services suffered either a full or part cancellation and in addition to this there were further delays associated with infrastructure problems as well as driver shortages.
	The measures implemented to date do not provide a complete and immediate fix, as evidenced over the festive period. London Midland's programme for recruiting and training additional new drivers will continue for the next 18 months in order to improve the robustness of the service and provide additional resilience to circumstances such as that experienced on 24 and 31 December. There are therefore positive signs but also some caution. Officials continue to monitor London Midland performance, of both cancellations and delays, very closely and will take serious action if the improvements agreed as part of the remedial plan are not delivered or successful.
	I have personally been scrutinising London Midland's performance including holding a teleconference with the Managing Director.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of foreign-registered vehicles remaining in the UK beyond the deadline for registration with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Stephen Hammond: There have been no recent estimates of the number of foreign-registered vehicles remaining in the UK beyond the deadline for registration with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. No central database records details of foreign registered vehicles as they enter or exit the UK.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions have been undertaken by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the last year against owners of foreign-registered vehicles that have remained in the UK beyond the registration deadline.

Stephen Hammond: No prosecutions were undertaken by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the last year but four foreign-registered vehicles were wheel clamped.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safeguards he has put in place to ensure that foreign-registered vehicles do not remain within the UK beyond the registration deadline with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency maintains a record of foreign-registered vehicles reported by members of the public, the police or local authority partners. Evidence that a vehicle has been in the UK for more than six months can result in enforcement action. This includes the wheel clamping and impounding of the vehicle.

Part-time Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of staff in his Department work part-time.

Norman Baker: As at 31 December 2012, the percentage of staff that worked part-time for the Central Department and its six Executive Agencies was 17.91%.

Railways: Finance

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of savings that can be made in the rail sector in 2013.

Simon Burns: The Department set out the funding available for the industry for the period 2009-14 in its 2007 High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) set an efficiency target of 21% for Network Rail for this period.
	The process for setting the funding for the rail industry for the period 2014-19 is currently under way. The ORR will publish its final determination in October 2013.
	In March 2012, the Government published a Command Paper—Reforming our Railways: Putting the Customer First—setting out its ambition to incentivise industry to reduce the cost of running the railways by £3.5 billion/year by 2019.

Railways: Floods

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to improve resilience against flooding of the rail link between London Paddington and the South West.

Norman Baker: The strategic business plans published on 8 January by Network Rail and the rail industry for the period 2014-19 include plans for investment which will improve the resilience of the railway infrastructure, including measures to improve flood mitigation. These plans are now subject to review by the Office of Rail Regulation, which will determine the appropriate level of funding and delivery obligations for Network Rail over that period.

Regional Airports

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to help regional airports expand.

Simon Burns: The Government's Aviation Policy Framework, published for consultation last July, recognised regional airports' contribution to local and regional economies, and their important roles in maintaining air connectivity and helping accommodate forecast growth in UK aviation demand. Within the Framework document we also announced some short-term measures to make the best use of existing airport capacity, encourage investment, and improve surface access to the benefit of passengers and the wider economy. The Government aims to adopt the final Aviation Policy Framework this spring.

Roads: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of children killed or seriously injured on roads were from ethnic minority backgrounds in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will estimate the number of such deaths or injuries that resulted from not wearing a seatbelt.

Stephen Hammond: The requested information is not held centrally.

Roads: Accidents

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many 
	(1)  professional recovery and emergency service staff have been injured as a result of incidents at the roadside in each parliamentary constituency in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  professional recovery and emergency service staff have been injured as a result of incidents at the roadside during the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(3)  motorists have been injured as a result of incidents at the roadside during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not collect any information on the profession of the casualty.
	The Department only holds information on accidents involving personal injuries occurring on highways (including footways) that involve at least one road vehicle (including collisions with pedestrians) and that become known to the police within 30 days of its occurrence.
	The Department collects information on the contributory factors associated with road accident casualties. Information for accidents in Great Britain in 2011 is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/10241/ras50007.xls
	Some of these contributory factors include cases where an event at the roadside or outside of the vehicle may have contributed to the accident. However, these factors do not indicate whether the accident was as a result of roadside incident or whether the vehicle was in attendance of a roadside incident at the time of the accident.

Roads: Safety

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the Slow Down Move Over campaign's proposals to make hard shoulders safer for professionals and motorists alike; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: No work has been undertaken to assess the Slow Down Move Over campaign. There is currently insufficient capacity on the strategic road network to introduce such a policy and there are no plans to introduce legislation.

Unemployed People: Travel

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions there have been between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to the Bus for Jobs initiative.

Norman Baker: Bus for Jobs is a commercial concession offered by participating operators in Great Britain. The Department for Work and Pensions worked closely with the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, Greener Journeys and the Department for Transport to design and implement and announce the initiative.

West Coast Railway Line

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the affordability of train tickets on the West Coast mainline for people in Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency.

Simon Burns: Regulated fares set by Virgin Trains for travel on the West Coast Mainline are set in line with the West Coast franchise agreement. For people who can travel off-peak some very cheap fares can be found. For example, advance single fares from Paisley Gilmour Street to London Euston can be found from £22.00.
	Fares set by First ScotRail are a matter for the Scottish Government.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's funding for Afghanistan is going to (a) Daykundi province, (b) Bamyan province and (c) Northern Afghanistan; and what proportion of the population lives in each of those areas.

Justine Greening: DFID provides support to all provinces in Afghanistan through our nationwide programmes and our assistance to the multi-donor Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. We also provide up to £1 million to improve the capability of the Bamyan provincial government to provide basic services and £3 million in partnership with New Zealand Aid to improve agricultural productivity in Bamyan. Beyond this, it is not possible to disaggregate the exact proportion of funding allocated to specific provinces without incurring disproportionate costs.
	According to the Afghan Government's Central Statistics Office 2011-12 estimates, the total population of Afghanistan is 26.5 million:
	Daykundi province has a total settled population of 431,000, equivalent to 1.6% of the total population of Afghanistan.
	Bamyan province has a total settled population of 418,500, equivalent to 1.6% of the total population.
	Northern provinces (Jawzjan, Faryab, Balkh, Samangan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, Sar e Pul and Badakshan) have a combined population of 7,131,000, equivalent to 26.9% of the total population.

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of her Department's staff are based in the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT); what plans she has for the Helmand PRT; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: We do not provide detailed information on staffing numbers in Afghanistan for security and operational reasons.
	As agreed by President Karzai and the international community all PRTs across Afghanistan will close by the end of 2014 in line with security transition, including the UK-led Helmand PRT.

Bangladesh

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the level of corruption in Bangladesh; and what programmes and projects her Department funds which aim to reduce corruption levels and promote democracy in Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: In 2012, Transparency International ranked Bangladesh 144 out of 174 countries in their corruption perceptions index (with one being the least corrupt). This is a slight decline on recent years but an improvement on 2005, when the country ranked last.
	The DFID programme called ‘Strengthening Political Participation in Bangladesh’ (SPP) will help to promote anti-corruption advocacy and awareness, improve the quality of input to policy making and legislation and help to ensure better scrutiny of future elections. It will include projects that work with political parties and their supporters; with the Bangladesh Election Commission; with Parliament—notably Parliamentary Standing Committees; and with Bangladeshi civil society.

Consultants

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what changes other than a threshold for ministerial sign-off for contracts with suppliers, were recommended in her Department's report on the use of private consultants;
	(2)  when she will make public the results of her Department's report on the use of private consultants.

Justine Greening: The Government does not publish advice to Ministers.
	A number of steps have already been taken as part of the first wholesale review of the Department's approach to suppliers in the last decade. This includes changes to the threshold for ministerial sign-off for contracts. In November I met with DFID's largest suppliers to start a process of working with them individually and collectively to get better value for money. That work is ongoing.

Consultants

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what changes other than a threshold for ministerial sign-off for contracts with suppliers, will be implemented as a result of the findings of her Department's report on the use of private consultants.

Justine Greening: A number of steps have already been taken as part of the first wholesale review of the department's approach to suppliers in the last decade. This includes changes to the threshold for ministerial sign-off for contracts. In November I met with DFID's largest suppliers to start a process of working with them individually and collectively to get better value for money.

Kenya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what initiatives her Department is working on with the Ministry of Defence to support aid development in Kenya.

Lynne Featherstone: Through the tri-departmental Africa Conflict Prevention Programme, the Department for International Development has worked closely with the Ministry of Defence to reduce the risks of violent conflict around the forthcoming Kenyan national elections. This has included support to the Kenya police, military and civil society organisations to improve early warning and response systems, and support to the Kenya military and police to tackle the growing threat of improvised explosive devices. The Department has also helped the UK military with their preparations for short term support to the delivery of some health care services in Isiolo and Samburu counties.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 30 November 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Heike Gabernowitz.

Justine Greening: The response has been sent.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she intends to answer the letter sent to her by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 28 November 2012 with regard to Dan Hynes.

Justine Greening: The right hon. Member’s letter of 28 November was transferred to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for reply, as the points raised by Mr Hynes covered the mistreatment of wild animals in circuses, which is a DEFRA lead. The responsible DEFRA Minister will reply to the letter shortly.

Overseas Aid

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information her Department collects on the uses to which the core funds of (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation and (c) Marie Stopes International have been put over the latest two years; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for international Development (DFID) monitors the use of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) through analysing information contained in financial reports and statements presented to the Executive Board. These include information provided on programme spending as well as funding used for management purposes.
	The conditions of the Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) grants that the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Marie Stopes International (MSI) receive require each organisation to submit their annual review together with their annual audited accounts and an independent mid-term evaluation assessing progress against their results framework. Each organisation is also required to submit an end of programme evaluation.

Overseas Aid

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding her Department plans to give to the International Planned Parenthood Federation for (a) abortion, (b) family planning and (c) other reproductive health services in the next 12 months; what assessment she has made of the value for money of previous such expenditure since June 2010; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Lynne Featherstone: DFID will provide up to £8.6 million to International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in 2013-14 through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) to deliver high priority, safe family planning and reproductive health services for vulnerable women and girls. The Department for International Development (DFID) does not classify spending under the categories requested.
	All Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) are expected to demonstrate value for money and our assessments to date show that the cost-effectiveness of International Planned Parenthood Federation is high.

Overseas Aid

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding her Department plans to give to Marie Stopes International for (a) abortion, (b) family planning and (c) other reproductive health services in the next 12 months; what assessment she has made of the value for money of such expenditure since June 2010; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Lynne Featherstone: Marie Stopes International (MSI) will receive up to £4.35 million through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) for the period 2013-14. The Department for International Development (DFID) does not classify spending under the categories requested.
	All Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) are expected to demonstrate value for money. An independent review has recently concluded that MSI show outstanding commitment to maximising cost-effectiveness and have been using funds in exceptionally cost-effective ways.

Overseas Aid

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will consider increasing the Official Development Assistance to population and reproductive health.

Lynne Featherstone: The health and rights of girls and women are front and centre of Britain's development programme. That is why the Prime Minister hosted the London Summit on Family Planning last July—to galvanize the global community to support transformational change for women and girls. The summit's goal was to provide voluntary family planning information, services and supplies to an additional 120 million women and girls in 69 of the poorest countries by 2020.
	The UK committed £516 million ($800 million) over eight years towards the summit goal. This is part of the UK's broader commitment to double investment in family planning from an average of £90 million per year since 2010, to £180 million per year for the next eight years.
	The UK's Muskoka Commitment, made at the G8 summit in 2010, is focused on saving the lives of women in pregnancy and childbirth, of newborn babies and on enabling couples to access modern methods of family planning. To support this the UK has significantly increased overall aid for reproductive, maternal and child health programming from around £490 million in 2008-09 to £860 million in 2011-12, a 75% increase over the period and above the commitment we made at the Muskoka summit.

Philippines

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent reports she has received on the uses of funding provided by her Department to the Government of the Philippines; whether any restrictions are placed on the use of such funding; and if she will make a statement; [R]
	(2)  what proportion of aid provided by her Department to the Philippines was spent on reproductive health in each of the last five years; and how much her Department has allocated for such purposes in each of the next two years; [R]
	(3)  whether she has received any reports of the use of funding provided by her Department to lobby the Government of the Philippines to change its laws on reproductive health; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a bilateral programme with the Philippines and is not providing direct assistance for health to the Government of the Philippines. DFID supports a multi-donor, global programme hosted by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to improve reproductive health and reduce recourse to unsafe abortion, and a number of non-governmental organisations working on reproductive health issues in the Philippines have received funding from this global IPPF programme. DFID receives regular reports on the programme from IPPF.
	DFID provides broader assistance to the Philippines through its attributable contributions to multilateral organisations. This can be viewed on the Statistics on International Development on the DFID website. Due to the nature of the multilateral contributions it is not possible to confirm what proportion of the funding should be attributed to health.

Philippines

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding was provided by her Department to (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation and (c) Marie Stopes International for expenditure in the Philippines (i) in total and (ii) on reproductive health issues in each of the last two years; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) provides United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with £20 million of core funding each year.
	DFID provided £8.6 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in 2011-12 and £9 million in 2010-11 through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) grant.
	DFID provided £4.35 million to Marie Stopes International (MSI) in 2011-12 through a PPA. MSI also received a £79,296 grant through the Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF) in 2010-11. DFID's funding to MSI is not earmarked for specific programmes. It is not possible to state what proportion of DFID funding to MSI was used in total or specifically on reproductive health issues in the Philippines in each of the last two years.

Procurement

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's 12 largest suppliers were by contract value in the most recent period for which figures are available; and how many such suppliers were private consultants.

Justine Greening: The Department for International Development's 12 largest suppliers by contact value for financial year 2011-12 are listed as follows. All 12 suppliers listed are private sector organisations.
	Two of the 12 suppliers listed are subsidiaries of charitable organisations (these are marked as follows with an *).
	Adam Smith International (ASI)
	Crown Agents*
	Mott McDonald (includes Cambridge Education & HLSP)
	PriceWaterhouseCoopers
	GRM International
	ABT Associates
	Maxwell Stamp
	HTSPE
	Coffey International Development
	Atos Consulting
	Options Consultancy Services*
	KPMG

Rwanda

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what options her Department is considering to help the poorest people in Rwanda following her recent decision to suspend budget support.

Justine Greening: As an immediate step, in December 2012, I approved the release of £3 million for social cash transfers to help the poorest people in Rwanda, and will continue to consider further options.

Rwanda

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with Ministers in the Rwandan Government on her Department's decision to suspend budgetary support.

Justine Greening: I met with the Rwandan Minister of Finance on 27 November 2012 and subsequently telephoned him on 30 November to inform him of the decision not to release a £21 million general budget support payment to Rwanda in December. The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) and DFID's Permanent Secretary visited Rwanda separately in 2012 and held discussions with President Kagame and Rwandan Ministers. DFID and FCO officials meet Rwandan Ministers regularly to discuss a range of matters including budget support.

PRIME MINISTER

A Programme for Government Update

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what the total cost was of (a) researching, (b) producing and (c) distributing the Government's mid-term review and its annex, A Programme for Government Update, published in January 2013.

Oliver Letwin: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The only external costs associated with the mid-term review were design, publishing and web costs. These costs have not yet been finalised but will be published in due course. There are no additional staff costs as the mid-term review was taken forward by Cabinet Office officials as part of their normal duties.

Food Banks

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer at Prime Minister's Questions on 9 January 2013, whether he has visited a food bank in the last 12 months; and whether he plans to visit a food bank in the near future.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Lothian (Fiona O'Donnell) on 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 455W.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Building Regulations

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to amend building regulations in relation to load-bearing beams to give preference to building materials that sequester carbon.

Don Foster: We currently have no such plans for load-bearing beams, or any other such products or materials, under the Building Regulations.

Families: Disadvantaged

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 13 of Working With Troubled Families: a guide to the evidence and good practice, by what means the percentage reductions for each of the family problems between entry and exit from the project were calculated; and what the percentage reductions were for each family problem in each local authority.

Brandon Lewis: The percentage reductions represent the difference in the proportion of families with a stated problem (e.g. truanting and school exclusions) at the end of the intervention being evaluated compared with the proportion of families who had those same problems at the start of the intervention. Whether or not a family is assessed as having such problems is based on the judgment of professionals in the relevant local service. The table on page 44 of the report sets out the changes and calculations in detail.
	A large number of local authorities stopped using the data collection system after it ceased to be a condition of grant receipt, so we do not have the information requested broken down by local authority.

Fire Services

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the spending cuts for each fire and rescue service will be by 2014-15.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The Government has made available a draft Local Government Finance Report for 2014-15 in order to provide greater certainty in local government funding. However, the figures are provisional and there will be a separate period of formal consultation on it later this year. Draft figures for 2014-15 for fire and rescue authorities are available at:
	www.local.communities.gov.uk

Fire Services: Floods

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it a statutory duty for fire and rescue services to respond to major flooding incidents; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what additional resources he is providing to fire and rescue services to tackle the problems caused by flooding; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Both the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 detail the roles and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of both, emergency response and rescue in a wide range of situations, including from flooding.
	In respect of resources, Government's large scale investment in flood defences has generally reduced the number of incidents, even during recent flooding events many thousands of properties were defended. Mutual aid arrangements between fire and rescue services are well embedded across the country and work well. The Government also maintains funding for national assets, such as high volume pumps, which are regularly deployed around the country. If major flooding occurs the Bellwin scheme can be activated to provide financial support to cover the extra costs incurred during the response stage of an emergency for eligible local authorities, including combined fire authorities.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what printing costs were incurred by his Department in production of the document 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government.

Brandon Lewis: No printing costs were incurred by my Department in creating this publication.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, how many staff were involved in the production and publication of the document, 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his near-identical tabled question of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, what definition his Department uses to decide on a substantive cost.

Brandon Lewis: The answer to the hon. Member's question of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, refers to the fact that having documents professionally typeset and printed in hard copy, which was the last Administration's approach, incurs a cost to the taxpayer. In line with the Department's new approach to publication, the 50 Ways document was formatted in-house and published online at minimal cost.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, how his Department monitors the output of staff in his ministerial office.

Brandon Lewis: Staff working in ministerial offices are managed by civil servants in accordance with the requirements of the Department's performance management framework.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, how many hard copies of his Department's document 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government have been requested in each available format; and what the cost was of each;
	(2)  what the cost to his Department was of producing a Braille version of the document 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government; and how many Braille copies of that document have been requested.

Brandon Lewis: No requests for any alternative formats of the ‘50 ways to save: examples of sensible savings in local government’ document have been made to date. Accordingly, no cost has been incurred.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, what meetings Ministers or officials of his Department had with external stakeholders and organisations on the production of the document 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government.

Brandon Lewis: Ministers and officials regularly meet with interested parties, including experts from the local government sector, to discuss approaches to deliver better and more cost-effective local services; this has included initiatives referenced in “50 ways to save”.
	Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are available on my Department's website.

Local Government Finance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 124W, on local government finance, in which languages his Department has published the document 50 Ways to Save: Examples of Sensible Savings in Local Government; and what the cost was of publishing that document in languages other than English.

Brandon Lewis: English; zero.

Local Government Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he intends to publish revised figures for changes in spending power in the provisional local government finance settlement as a result of errors in some of the calculations; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Every year we receive representations on all aspects of the provisional local government settlement, including spending power. Every representation is taken into account as part of the consultation on the final settlement.

Local Government Finance: East of England

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what levels of reserves maintained by each local authority in the Eastern Region were at 31 December of each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: A table has been placed in the Library of the House, which shows the level of local authority financial reserves held at the start and end of each financial year for all local authorities in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
	Figures showing financial reserves as at 31 December each year are not available; figures are collected on a financial year basis, so show the level of financial reserves at the start of each financial year (as at 1 April) and at the end of each financial year (as at 31 March). Figures were not collected for end-year reserve levels for 2001-02 to 2004-05.
	The figures are from Revenue Outturn forms submitted to DCLG by local authorities each year.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he intends to answer the letter sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 3 December 2012 with regard to Mr J King.

Nicholas Boles: A reply was sent on 9 January 2013.

Mobile Homes

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what his policy is on the provision of parking spaces on park home sites;
	(2)  what guidance his Department gives on the building of a domestic dwelling on a park home site designated for social housing use; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: In 2008 the Department published guidance in the form of model standards for residential park home sites for the purpose of licensing such sites. In relation to communal parking the explanatory notes to the standards provide that parking requirements should reflect the reasonable needs of the residents, having regard to the size and layout of the site, the number of units, the occupation criteria of the site and the availability of public transport in the immediate vicinity and that the provision of parking spaces on new sites or those undergoing redevelopment or extension should be consistent with local planning policies.
	The Department has not issued guidance on the building of domestic dwellings on park home sites designated for social housing use. The building of dwellings on a park home site would require permission from the local planning authority. The provision of additional park homes on a site may also require planning permission (depending on the terms of the original planning consent) and/or a variation to the licence issued by the local licensing authority if the provision of additional homes would exceed the number permitted to be stationed on the site under the licence.

New Businesses: Tax Allowances

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to introduce rate relief incentives for new start-up businesses of a duration in excess of 12 months.

Brandon Lewis: The Chancellor announced in his autumn statement a further one year extension—making three and a half years in total—of the temporary doubling of small business rate relief. The increased level of relief will therefore apply throughout the whole of the 2013-14 billing year. Many start-ups will be paying no rates-at all under the scheme.
	We have also given local authorities a wide-ranging, discretionary power to grant business rates discounts as they see fit. they are therefore able to use that power to support local start-ups.
	Further support would need to be balanced against the costs involved, the targeted support we have already provided on business rates and the overriding need to reduce public expenditure and support the economy generally by reducing the deficit.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 306W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in his Department.

Brandon Lewis: The Department reviews the effectiveness of its policies and programmes to address stress and absence on a regular basis and is committed to the well-being of staff. A number of services are offered to help minimise absence as well as provide advice on managing workplace stress. These include a self-test stress indicator tool for line managers, Intranet information pages to help staff maximise their physical and mental health and access to a 24-hour Employee Assistance helpline which offers advice and support to all staff.

Travellers

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 839W, on travellers, on which specific occasions there has been any discussion of issues arising from the influx of Slovak Roma into England in the last six months.

Don Foster: Ministers regularly meet colleagues from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss a range of issues. To assist the right hon. Member, I would note that officials from the Department, for Communities and Local Government are working closely with their colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that the UK plays an effective role in discussions at European level on Roma integration. For example, in October 2012, the Department for Communities and Local Government represented the UK at the first meeting of National Roma Contact Points, which brings together officials from all the EU member states.
	Further to my previous answer of 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 839W, the EU budget and regulations governing EU funds in 2014-2020 are currently being negotiated. Subject to the progress of these negotiations, the Government expects in 2013 to develop, and consult on, proposals for the delivery of these funds.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Electoral Register

Wayne David: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much local authorities are planning to spend on electoral registration in 2013; and how much they have spent in each of the last four years.

Chloe Smith: Local authorities are not obliged to report their registration expenditure forecasts. My Department does not hold details of how much each local authority has spent on electoral registration in each of the last four years. In order to obtain these details you may wish to contact the Electoral Commission.

Politics and Government: Public Participation

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness among adults of the different levels of government.

Chloe Smith: The Government believes civic engagement and participation in democracy are important elements of society. We want to help people to be active citizens of our democracy at both national and local level. For example, we are currently piloting different approaches to engaging directly with people across the UK including in their schools, colleges and communities, to increase their understanding of the democratic process, including the importance and process of registering to vote.

CABINET OFFICE

Alcoholic Drinks: Females

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of alcohol-related deaths among women in each (a) socio-economic group, (b) ethnic group and (c) age group since 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate has been made of the number of alcohol-related deaths among women in each (a) socio-economic group, (b) ethnic group and (c) age group since 2010. (136515)
	The tables attached provide the number of female alcohol-related deaths by (a) National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) (Table 1) and (b) five-year age group (Table 2), for England and Wales, for the years 2010 to 2011 (the latest year available).
	It is not possible to provide the number of alcohol-related deaths by ethnic group as this information is not collected at death registration.
	Alcohol-related deaths are reported consistently across the United Kingdom using an agreed National Statistics definition that only includes those causes regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption (see Box 1 below).
	Alcohol-related death figures for the UK, England, Wales, and regions of England, for 1991 to 2010 are available on the ONS website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-29395
	
		
			 Box 1: National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths (ICD-10) 
			 ICD-10 code Description 
			 F10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol 
			 G31.2 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol 
			 G62.1 Alcoholic polyneuropathy 
			 I42.6 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 
			 K29.2 Alcoholic gastritis 
			 K70 Alcoholic liver disease 
			 K73 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified 
			 K74 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (Excluding K74.3-K74.5—Billiary cirrhosis) 
			 K86.0 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis 
			 X45 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol 
			 X65 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol 
			 Y15 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths of females where the underlying cause was alcohol-related by NS-SEC, England and Wales, 2010 to 2011(1,2,3,4,5,6) 
			 Deaths 
			 Socio-economic group 2010 2011 
			 Large employers and higher managerial 46 33 
			 Higher professional 51 52 
			 Lower managerial and professional 263 290 
			 Intermediate 185 209 
			 Self-employed and own account workers 112 92 
			 Lower supervisory and technical 116 121 
			 Semi-routine 292 306 
			 Routine 210 194 
			 Non-occupied 121 124 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes which are included in the National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in Box 1 above. (2) Figures include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) NS-SEC for women assigned by the “combined” method whereby if married the most advantaged class of either the woman or her husband is used to represent the woman’s classification. Adjustments for under-recording at death have been applied. Complete methodology in Langford A., Johnson B., and Al-Hamed A. (2009) “Social inequalities in female mortality by regions and by selected causes of death, England and Wales, 2001-03, Health Statistics Quarterly 44, 7-26, available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hsq/health-statistics-quarterly/no--44--winter-2009/index.html (5) Figures are for females aged 25 to 59 years. (6) For the purpose of this table, those who had never worked, the long-term unemployed, full-time students, those with an occupation inadequately described or unclassified for other reasons are referred to as the “non-occupied group” and are excluded from the analysis, being composed of a disparate range of people. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of deaths of females where the underlying cause was alcohol-related by age group, England and Wales, 2010 to 2011(1,2,3,4) 
			 Deaths 
			 Age group 2010 2011 
			 Under 30 26 30 
			 30-34 72 74 
			 35-39 138 127 
			 40-44 217 236 
			 45-49 280 281 
			 50-54 324 343 
			 55-59 346 338 
			 60-64 310 338 
			 65-69 226 201 
			 70-74 186 179 
			 75-79 114 146 
		
	
	
		
			 80-84 106 85 
			 85+ 78 71 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes which are included in the National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in Box 1 above. (2) Figures include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Charities: Pay

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will bring forward legislative proposals to (a) remove charitable status and (b) impose other sanctions on charities which pay senior staff salaries in excess of £100,000.

Nick Hurd: It is for a charity's trustees to determine the remuneration of senior staff, acting in the best interests of the charity and its beneficiaries.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Francis Maude: As part of my Department's transparency programme, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
	A central record of officials' meetings is not held.

Duchy of Cornwall

Andrew George: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 521W, on Duchy of Cornwall, 
	(1)  in what way seeking the consent of the Prince of Wales differs from seeking the consent of the Duke of Cornwall;
	(2)  what role Parliament has in (a) reviewing, (b) amending or (c) abolishing the requirement for the Government to seek the consent of (i) the Crown, (ii) the Prince of Wales, (iii) the Duke of Cornwall and (iv) any other Royal person who possesses such constitutional power in respect of Government bills before they are passed by Parliament;
	(3)  on (a) how many and (b) which occasions consent of the (i) Sovereign, (ii) Prince of Wales and (iii) Duchy of Cornwall has been sought for Government legislation but not granted in the last 10 years;
	(4)  which parliamentary bills have required the consent of the (a) Sovereign, (b) Prince of Wales and (c) Duke of Cornwall (i) before they have passed through Parliament, (ii) during their parliamentary passage and (iii) before they could be enacted in the last 10 years; and how many bills have not been subject to such consent.

Chloe Smith: The signification of the Queen's and the Prince of Wales's consent for certain Bills is a parliamentary requirement. It is for Parliament to decide what, if any, consent is required. Where Queen's or Prince's consent is required, it is signified in each House of Parliament.
	The signification is recorded in Hansard and in the Journals and is accordingly a matter of public record. However the Government does not hold collated figures for the last 10 years and to collect such data would incur disproportionate cost as there are many Bills in each session. Neither the Queen nor the Prince of Wales has refused to consent to any Government Bill in the last ten years.
	Where a Bill refers to the Duchy of Cornwall or has special application to it, the consent of the Prince of Wales is sought, in his role as the Duke of Cornwall.

Duchy of Cornwall

Andrew George: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 521W, on Duchy of Cornwall, if he will place in the Library the Cabinet Office guide referred to in the answer; and if he will publish a compendium of advice provided by Parliamentary Counsel to Departments on this matter.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office “Guide to Making Legislation” provides advice to Government Departments on seeking the Queen's and the Prince of Wales's consent and is available on the Cabinet Office website. A copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
	The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel recently published internal guidance, “Queen's or Prince's Consent”, also available on the Cabinet Office website. A copy will be placed in the Library of the House. The Office of Parliamentary Counsel also provides advice to Departments on a Bill by Bill basis.

Job Creation: Private Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number of jobs created in each sector of the private sector, including jobs for those in further education and on work experience, since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for the estimate of the number of jobs created in each sector of the private sector, including jobs for those in further education and on work experience, since May 2010. 136268.
	Information regarding jobs created is not available. As an alternative, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides quarterly estimates of people in employment in each sector. These estimates have been used to calculate the change in the private sector employment between the quarter April-June 2010 and quarter April-June 2012, the most suitable time periods for the question. Data are shown in the table.
	In the LFS the distinction between public and private sector is based on the respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. However, the estimated level of private sector employment based purely on the LFS tends to be significantly lower than the official estimated level of total private sector employment published in the monthly Labour Market Statistical Bulletin. This is mainly due to response error in the LFS, in particular where people working for private sector contractors within the public sector report their sector erroneously as public. Even so, the change in both series since May 2010 is of a similar magnitude.
	The estimates are derived from the LFS and are not seasonally adjusted. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			 Number of people aged 16 and over, employed(1) in the private sector(2) by industry, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			 Industry(3) April-June 2010 (thousand) April-June 2012 (thousand) Change from 2010 to 2012 (thousand) Percentage change (%) 
			 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 332 347 15 4.3 
			 Mining and quarrying 105 121 17 13.6 
			 Manufacturing 2,819 2,874 55 1.9 
			 Electricity, gas, air conditioning supply 163 175 11 6.5 
			 Water supply, sewerage, waste 138 181 43 23.6 
			 Construction 2,099 2,058 -41 -2.0 
			 Wholesale, retail, repair of vehicles 3,942 4,042 100 2.5 
			 Transport and storage 1,241 1,234 -7 -0.6 
			 Accommodation and food services 1,392 1,436 44 3.1 
			 Information and communication 938 1,060 122 11.5 
			 Financial and insurance activities 1,135 1,206 71 5.9 
			 Real estate activities 242 312 70 22.4 
			 Professional, scientific, technical activities 1,752 1,843 91 4.9 
			 Administrative and support services 1,216 1,283 67 5.2 
			 Public administration and defence 232 259 27 10.6 
			 Education 674 715 41 5.8 
			 Health and social work 1,687 1,794 107 6.0 
			 Arts, entertainment and recreation 568 634 66 10.4 
			 Other service activities 613 640 27 4.2 
			 Households as employers 58 56 -2 -4.3 
		
	
	
		
			 Extraterritorial organisations 11 12 1 11.1 
			 Total(4) 21,440 22,394 954 4.3 
			 (1) Including those in further education and on work experience. (2 )The private sector estimates in the LFS are based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. (3 )Standard Industrial Classification 2007. (4) Total includes those that did not state their industry. Source: Labour Force Survey

Life Expectancy

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what life expectancy at birth was in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) the East Midlands and (d) the UK in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the life expectancy at birth was in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) East Midlands and (d) the UK in each of the last five years. (136938).
	Life expectancy figures for parliamentary constituencies are not available. However, figures are available for local authority districts, unitary authorities, counties and regions within the UK.
	Life expectancy figures are calculated as three year rolling averages. The table below provides the period life expectancy at birth for males and females in Ashfield local authority, Nottinghamshire county, the East Midlands region and the UK for the period 2004-2006 to 2008-2010 (the latest figures available).
	Period life expectancies at birth for males and females for all local authority districts, unitary authorities, counties and regions in England and Wales, for rolling three-year periods from 1991-1993 onwards are published on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health4/life-expec-at-birth-age-65/index.html
	
		
			 Life expectancy at birth, UK, East Midlands, Nottinghamshire and Ashfield, 2004-06 to 2008-10(1,2,3) 
			 Years of life 
			 Area Period Males Females 
			 UK 2004-06 77.0 81.3 
			  2005-07 77.3 81.5 
			  2006-08 77.5 81.7 
			  2007-09 77.9 82.0 
			  2008-10 78.2 82.3 
			     
			 East Midlands 2004-06 77.3 81.3 
			  2005-07 77.6 81.6 
			  2006-08 77.8 81.8 
			  2007-09 78.1 82.1 
			  2008-10 78.4 82.4 
			     
			 Nottinghamshire 2004-06 77.5 81.4 
			  2005-07 77.6 81.6 
			  2006-08 .77.8 81.8 
			  2007-09 78.2 81.9 
			  2008-10 78.5 82.3 
			     
			 Ashfield 2004-06 75.6 80.5 
			  2005-07 76.0 80.6 
			  2006-08 76.5 80.7 
			  2007-09 77.1 80.8 
			  2008-10 76.9 81.3 
			 (1) Period life expectancy at birth is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the area's age-specific mortality rates for that time period throughout his or her life. The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each time period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not therefore the number of years a baby born in the area in each time period could actually expect to live, both because the death rates of the area are likely to change in the future and because many of those born in the area will live elsewhere for at least some part of their lives. (2) Using boundaries as of October 2010 for all the years shown. (3) Three year rolling averages, based on deaths registered in each year and mid-year population estimates. Source: Office for National Statistics

Low Pay

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people in (a) the UK, (b) East Midlands, (c) Nottinghamshire and (d) Ashfield constituency are paid less than the living wage.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question.
	Average levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.
	In April 2012 the living wage was £8.30 in London and £7.20 in all other regions of the UK. The following table shows the number and proportion of employee jobs for which pay is less than the living wage in (a) the UK, (b) East Midlands, (c) Nottinghamshire and (d) Ashfield in April 2012, the latest period for which figures are available.
	
		
			 Estimates of jobs(1) paid less than the Living Wage for the UK, East Midlands, Nottinghamshire and Ashfield in April 2012 
			  2012 
			  Thousand Percentage 
			 UK 4,730 19.2 
			 East Midlands 370 21.7 
			 Nottinghamshire 58 23.4 
			 Ashfield **10 **22.3 
			 (1) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key: CV ≤5% * CV >5% and =10% ** CV >10% and =20% CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

Plymouth Brethren

David Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what discussions officials in his Department have had with the Charity Commission on the charitable status of the Plymouth Brethren; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Antrim (Dr McCrea) on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 89W.

Procurement: EU Law

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidance the Department has for commissioners and procurers on EU procurement rules relating to considering social value for (a) contracts under £100,000 and (b) contracts over £100,000.

Chloe Smith: A Procurement Policy Note (PPN) giving guidance in support of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 has been published on the Cabinet Office website:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/public-procurement-note-public-services-social-value-act-2012
	The Act does not apply to below threshold contracts, but the PPN invites commissioners to consider social value in such contracts as a matter of good practice.

Teenage Pregnancy

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many teenage pregnancies there have been in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) the East Midlands and (d) the UK in the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question.
	This question has been answered using conception statistics to women aged under 18 to represent teenage pregnancies. Conception statistics are estimated for women usually resident in England and Wales and are based on birth registrations and abortion records. Conception statistics are not available for Northern Ireland hence UK figures cannot be produced.
	The number of teenage conceptions is available for the non-metropolitan district of Ashfield rather than the parliamentary constituency of Ashfield. Figures cannot be provided for parliamentary constituencies because of the risk of disclosing information on conceptions due to small differences with local authority boundaries.
	The latest year for which conception statistics are available is 2010. Statistics for 2011 are due to be published in February/March 2013.
	
		
			 Under 18 conceptions 2008-10, England and Wales 
			  Number of conceptions 
			 Area of usual residence 2010 2009 2008 
			 Ashfield 85 109 105 
			 Nottinghamshire 461 495 589 
			 East Midlands 2,762 3,086 3,330 
			 England and Wales 34,633 38,259 41,361 
		
	
	The number of conceptions to women aged under 18 in England and Wales for 1998-2010 are available on the ONS website (see table 6):
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/conception-statistics--england-and-wales/2010/rft-conception-statistics-2010.xls

Unemployment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people of each ethnic group (a) are aged between 18 and 24 and have been unemployed for over a year and (b) are aged over 24 and have been unemployed for over two years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people of each ethnic group (a) are aged between 18 and 24 and have been unemployed for over a year and (b) are aged over 24 and have been unemployed for over two years. 136670
	Information on unemployment by ethnic group is collected by the Annual Population Survey (APS). In this case estimates for most of the individual ethnic groups in the classification used for official statistics are not available due to the limitations of the sample size involved. Consequently, estimates are provided for the white ethnic group and for all other ethnic groups in total, as in the table attached.
	The available information is provided in the attached table for the period October 2011 to September 2012. As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty, as indicated by the guide to quality in the table.
	
		
			 Long-term unemployment by age and ethnic groups, 12 month period October 2011 to September 2012, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			 Thousand 
			  Aged 18 to 24 Aged 25 and over 
			  Unemployed for over 12 months Unemployed for over 24 months 
			 White(1) **179 **277 
			 All other ethnic groups(2) ****33 ***63 
			 (1 )White includes respondents in England, Wales and Scotland identifying themselves as 'White-Gypsy or Irish Traveller' and respondents in Scotland identifying themselves as 'White-Polish'. (2 )Includes respondents in Northern Ireland identifying themselves as ‘Irish Traveller' and respondents in all UK countries identifying themselves as ‘Arab', mixed/multiple ethnic groups, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, black/African/Caribbean/black British and other ethnic groups. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Housing

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2012, Official Report, column 624W, on asylum: housing, how many of the failed asylum seekers who are being accommodated under the provisions of section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 are Afghan nationals.

Mark Harper: Information on section 4 support is published on an annual and quarterly basis. Latest figures are available in Table “as.18.q” of the release Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/
	These statistics reported 2,503 failed asylum seekers accommodated under the provisions of section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the end of September 2012. Of these, 71 were Afghan nationals.
	Section 4 support is provided to failed asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute where there is a temporary barrier preventing them from leaving the UK.
	The number of Afghan nationals supported under section 4 is a subset of published National Statistics. The nationality field has not been quality assured to the level of detail used to publish the total figure as National Statistics.

Aviation: Safety

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of laser pen attacks on aircraft were recorded in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested is not available from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office.

Bramshill Police College

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the chief executive of the College of Policing on the (a) sale of Bramshill Police College and (b) proposed physical location of the new college of policing.

Damian Green: Between March and December 2012 the Home Office sought the views of and had discussions with police partners, including the Association of Chief Police Officers, on the future of Bramshill and the new college of Policing.
	The college of Policing operates from a range of sites across England.

Bramshill Police College

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed at Bramshill Police College; how many staff she expects to be retained following its sale; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: As at 31 December 2012, 140 College of Policing staff (actual headcount) were based at its Bramshill site. This includes permanent employees, secondees and staff on loan.
	Other organisations also have staff working at Bramshill, including the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the European Police College (CEPOL) and the UK Border Agency (UKBA).
	Any future decisions by the College of Policing about the size, shape and location of its workforce will be made by the college in due course. Any such decisions may take account of, but will not be solely dependent on, the sale or retention of the Bramshill site by the Home Office.

Databases: Telecommunications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the principal differences between her proposals contained in the draft Communications Data Bill 2012 and the proposals made by the previous Government under its Intercept Modernisation Programme.

James Brokenshire: There are significant differences between the proposals in the Draft Bill and the Interception Modernisation Programme developed by the last Government. We are not proposing a single Government database to store all communications data. Under our programme, the emphasis is on developing relationships with industry to determine the best solution on a case by case basis. Any retained communications data would be stored by the communications service providers themselves.
	This Government is committed to preserving civil liberties, and has already legislated to ensure that local authorities must seek prior approval from a magistrate before acquiring communications data.

Deportation

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were deported from the UK in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The following table provides the total number of enforced removals in each year from the UK, January 2007 to September 2012.
	
		
			 Total enforced removals from the U.K(1,2) January 2007 to September 2012(3) 
			 Number of departures 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(3) (January to September) 
			 Enforced removals from the UK 17,770 17,239 15,252 14,854 15,063 10,844 
			 (1) Enforced removals are where it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and has no valid leave to remain within the United Kingdom. The UKBA enforces their departure to ensure they leave the UK. (2) Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (3) Provisional figures. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	Deportations are included in published enforced removals statistics which are either following a criminal conviction (foreign national offenders) or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type is available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: July-September 2012, tables rv.01 and rv.01 .q, from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/
	Data for October 2012 onwards are not yet available, but quarterly data for October-December 2012 will be published as part of the regular Home Office publication scheme on 28 February.

Emergency Calls: Admissibility of Evidence

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that the recording of 999 calls is of sufficient audible quality to be used in court;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to ensure that the recording of (a) 999 calls and (b) telephone calls to police stations is of sufficient audible quality to be used in court.

Damian Green: Police forces record all emergency 999 calls, and all non-emergency 101 calls which are routed to police control rooms. Most, if not all, are now digitally recorded. Calls direct to police stations are generally not recorded, although there may be exceptions within specific departments. It is a matter for local forces to ensure that suitable recording standards are met.

Entry Clearances

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the application for a visa made by Leah McGrath Goodman reference: GWF016647754 for the purposes of visiting Jersey has not yet been passed to the Jersey authorities; and by what date she expects it to be passed to the Jersey authorities.

Mark Harper: Due to its obligations under the Data Protection Act, the UK Border Agency is unable to comment on an individual case.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a verbally checked student record of attendance at lectures and seminars meets the UK Border Agency's criteria of the evidence required to prove engagement of non-EU students for visa purposes.

Mark Harper: All Tier 4 sponsors must have a system in place to continually monitor student attendance and to identify when a student has missed 10 consecutive expected contacts. It is for the sponsor and not the UK Border Agency to define what the 10 consecutive expected contacts should be. This enables sponsors to consider what is appropriate for their institution, taking into account differences in study methods.
	A verbal check of a student's record of attendance at lectures and seminars would meet the requirements set out in the Tier 4 sponsor guidance provided that the information is recorded and kept in either an electronic or manual format.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a signed student record of attendance at lectures and seminars meets the UK Border Agency's criteria of the evidence required to prove engagement of non-EU students for visa purposes.

Mark Harper: All Tier 4 sponsors must have a system in place to continually monitor student attendance and to identify when a student has missed 10 consecutive expected contacts. It is for the sponsor and not the UK Border Agency to define what the 10 consecutive expected contacts should be. This enables sponsors to consider what is appropriate for their institution, taking into account differences in study methods.
	A signed student record of attendance at lectures and seminars would meet the requirements set out in the Tier 4 sponsor guidance provided that the information is recorded and kept in either an electronic or manual format.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is any size threshold of lecture or seminar which must be satisfied before a student record of attendance at lectures and seminars meets the UK Border Agency's criteria of the evidence required to prove engagement of non-EU students for visa purposes.

Mark Harper: All Tier 4 sponsors must have a system in place to continually monitor student attendance and to identify when a student has missed 10 consecutive expected contacts. It is for the sponsor and not the UK Border Agency to define what the 10 consecutive expected contacts should be. This enables sponsors to consider what is appropriate for their institution, taking into account differences in study methods.
	A signed student record of attendance at lectures and seminars, whatever its size, would meet the requirements set out in the Tier 4 sponsor guidance provided that the information is recorded and kept in either an electronic or manual format.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which universities and higher education institutions have been examined by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in respect of their international students; and how many visits UKBA officials have made to such institutions in each of the last three years.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency is unable to provide figures on the number of visits it has conducted to universities and other educational institutions in each of the last three years. The information requested is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only by a manual check of all records at disproportionate cost.
	Since the introduction of the points based system all educational institutions wishing to bring foreign students to the UK must be registered as a sponsor with the UK Border Agency.
	The UK Border Agency has visited all sponsors under Tier 4 of the points based system at least once.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier 4 applications were (a) made, (b) initially accepted, (c) approved after discussion and (d) refused in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The available information requested for entry clearance visas based on latest published figures appears in the following table:
	
		
			 Tier 4 (and pre-PBS equivalent) entry clearance visa applications and resolution by category 
			      Of which:  
			   Applications Resolved Issued Refused Withdrawn Lapsed 
			 2007 Main applicant 283,868 284,750 193,775 88,976 1,366 633 
			  Dependant 24,335 24,298 19,277 4,831 140 50 
			         
			 2008 Main applicant 311,538 301,966 207,774 92,180 1,386 626 
			  Dependant 31,734 30,913 24,201 6,473 202 37 
			         
			 2009 Main applicant 384,873 373,695 273,207 93,278 6,487 723 
			  Dependant 43,946 40,651 30,156 9,990 396 109 
			         
			 2010 Main applicant 322,726 344,804 253,786 77,450 13,114 454 
			  Dependant 44,463 46,805 31,758 13,008 1,987 52 
			         
			 2011 Main applicant 277,177 283,421 237,028 41,565 4,574 254 
			  Dependant 33,241 34,384 24,377 9,374 601 32 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided relates to applications received and cases resolved by calendar year. 2. Some applications received may be resolved in a subsequent year. 3. The information provided includes cases approved after administrative review. 4. Tier 4 of the points based system was introduced in 2009 Source: Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012, table be.01 
		
	
	Corresponding information for 2012 is planned to be published on 28 February 2013, as part of the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics release.
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas, are published in the release Immigration Statistics release, which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department's website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Immigration Controls

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at which ports of entry intelligence-led border checks have been used in the last year.

Mark Harper: holding answer 12 December 2012
	All passengers who present themselves at the PCP on arrival to the UK or juxtaposed controls are examined by a Border Force officer and checked against Home Office database before being allowed into the UK. Giving more detailed information would prejudice the security of the UK border.

Immigration Controls

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of in-country immigration applications for limited leave to remain and permanent leave to remain were processed within the UK Border Agency's service standard target between 1 July and 30 September 2012 by (a) points-based system tier and (b) category;
	(2)  what proportion of in-country immigration applications for limited leave to remain and permanent leave to remain were processed within the UK Border Agency's service standard target between 1 April 2012 and 30 June 2012 by (a) points-based system tier and (b) category.

Mark Harper: holding answer 17 December 2012
	The data requested is not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols.
	However, data on the number of PBS applications decided and the proportion of those decided within service standard is published on an annual and quarterly basis. Latest figures are available on the UK Border Agency website at the following link:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/percentage-of-migration/

Immigration Controls

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases from 2010 in which reconsideration of a decision on leave to remain is sought decisions are outstanding; within what timescale decisions on such cases will be made; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reach such decisions on such cases.

Mark Harper: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Previously there was no policy or resources in place to reconsider applications, so they were only undertaken on an exceptional basis.
	The UK Border Agency now has a published policy on reconsiderations which states it will undertake reconsiderations on those requests that pass agreed criteria, and it will deploy resources to process them during the first half of 2013.
	The policy can be found here:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/modernised/cross-cut/reconsiderations/reconsiderations?view=Binary

Immigration: Biometrics

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average it took for an application for a replacement biometric residence permit to be determined in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many outstanding applications for a replacement biometric residence permit there were on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Mark Harper: holding answer 19 November 2012
	The average processing time of replacement biometric residence permit cases dispatched between April and October 2012 was:
	
		
			  Average working days 
			 April 2012 22 
			 May 2012 39 
			 June 2012 39 
			 July 2012 42 
			 August 2012 46 
			 September 2012 65 
			 October 2012 45 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted are management information which has been subject to internal quality checks. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figures relate to main applicants only. 3. Processing times based on the average number of days from biometric enrolment date to despatch date. 
		
	
	On December 11, there were 756 replacement biometric residence permit applications still pending a decision.
	Notes:
	1. All figures quoted are management information which has been subject to internal quality checks. This data has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
	2. Figures relate to main applicants only.
	Age of the case based on the time since the application was created on the UKBA's Case Information Database (CID).
	We have now deployed resources with the aim of returning to operating within our service standard of issuing decisions within four weeks of biometric enrolment for applications for temporary migration replacement biometric resident permits as soon as possible.

Legal Opinion: Treaties

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of mutual legal assistance treaties; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The UK can provide most forms of Mutual Legal Assistance ('MLA') without a treaty. However, the UK is party to over 30 bilateral MLA treaties as well as a number of multilateral MLA treaties.
	Our view is that, generally, MLA treaties provide an effective and valuable framework for requesting and providing assistance in obtaining evidence located abroad for the purposes of combating cross-border crime and ensuring justice for victims.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 20 November 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs A Emdre.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 3 January 2013.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration dated 21 November 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Egbe Denis Egbe Tanya.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 3 January 2013.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 30 November 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Dr Jude Nduka.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 8 January 2013.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration dated 28 November 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Gena Elizabeth Henry.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 3 January 2013.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 4 December 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr A. Ryder.

Damian Green: I replied to the letter from the right hon. Member on 7 January 2013.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 4 December 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr Naveed Ahmed.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 8 January 2013.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long each individual currently subject to a terrorism prevention and investigation measure has been subject to that order; and for how long those who were previously subject to a control order were subject to that order.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State reports to Parliament on the exercise of her powers under the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 on a quarterly basis. These quarterly reports confirm the imposition, extension, revocation and revival of TPIM notices. I refer the hon. Lady to the statements dated 26 March 2012, Official Report, column 94WS, 19 June 2012, Official Report, column 56WS, 7 September 2012, Official Report, column 39WS and 6 December 2012, Official Report, column 80WS.
	Of the individuals subject to a TPIM notice at the end of the last reporting period on 30 November 2012:
	(a) one had, at that point, been subject to a TPIM notice for under six months; and
	(b) nine had, at that point, been subject to a TPIM notice for between six and 12 months.
	We can confirm that of the nine individuals previously subject to a control order:
	(a) four had been subject to one or more control orders for between six and 12 months;
	(b) one had been subject to one or more control orders for between 12 months and two years;
	(c) two had been subject to one or more control orders for between two and three years; and
	(d) two had been subject to one or more control orders for over three years.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications to alter the conditions of a terrorism prevention and investigation measure were received in the last 12 months; how many such applications were accepted; how many decisions on such applications were appealed; and how many such appeals were upheld.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State reports to Parliament on the exercise of her powers under the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 on a quarterly basis. These quarterly reports provide information on how requests to vary the measures of TPIM notice have been dealt with and also provide details of judicial proceedings in relation to TPIM cases.
	I refer the hon. Lady to the statements dated 26 March 2012, Official Report, column 94WS, 19 June 2012, Official Report, column 56WS, 7 September 2012, Official Report, column 39WS, and 6 December 2012, Official Report, column 80WS.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost has been of (a) employing special advocates and (b) awarding legal aid to those subject to a terrorism prevention and investigation measure since January 2010.

James Brokenshire: The Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (TPIM Act) came into force in December 2011, repealing and replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 which gave the power to impose control orders.
	The legal costs to the Home Office include the costs of the Home Office's own legal representation and advice; the costs of the special advocates and the Special Advocates Support Office; and meeting the legal costs of the control order and TPIM subjects where this has been ordered by the court. It is not possible to separate the costs of special advocates from the overall legal costs to the Home Office because of the way that the costs are recorded. The information requested can be separated out only at disproportionate cost.
	Legal costs to the Home Office of control orders and the cost of awarding legal aid to those subject to control orders for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are included in the Final Report of the Independent Reviewer on the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 published in March 2012.
	More recent costs are expected to be included in the Independent Reviewer's forthcoming report on TPIMs in 2012.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what HM Revenue and Customs spent on operating x-ray scanners to tackle tobacco smuggling in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Mark Harper: Border Force uses a range of x-ray scanners to tackle tobacco smuggling through freight and by passengers. These x-ray scanners are also used to detect the presence of other prohibited drugs and restricted goods so the costs of operating them cannot be solely attributed to tobacco smuggling. In 2010-11 and 2011-12 the contractual maintenance costs of this equipment cost £1,487,000 and £1,133,000 respectively. In addition, new scanning equipment costing £66,005 was purchased.

UK Border Agency

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the UK Border Agency completed an investigation into missing documents and informed the applicant of the outcome within its target time for doing so in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency does not have a general process or target time for investigating missing documents and informing the applicant of the outcome.

EDUCATION

Arts: Curriculum

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to announce details for the incorporation of creative subjects into the new curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: On 11 June, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), wrote to Tim Oates, chair of the national curriculum review's expert panel, setting out his decisions on the subjects to be included in the primary national curriculum. A copy of that letter has been placed in the Library of the House and can also be found on the following website:
	www.education.gov.uk/nationalcurriculum
	We will be announcing our decisions on the secondary national curriculum subjects shortly.

Children in Care

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities have been required to explain to his Department why children in care in that local authority have been placed in care homes outside the local area.

Edward Timpson: As part of the work announced by Ministers in July to reform children's residential care, an Out of Area Placements Task and Finish Group was established to focus on how to improve arrangements, and the quality of care and support, for looked after children placed ‘out of area' by their local authorities. This work has been informed by visits to individual local authorities to discuss their approach to commissioning and placing children, including the placement of children in homes outside of their local area.
	The Task and Finish Group has comprised senior expert representation from children's services, local authorities, providers, Ofsted and others. It has been working in parallel with two other expert groups established to take forward work on the reform of children's residential care: a group focusing on improving data about looked after children who go missing from care, and a further group with a broad remit to consider how to improve the overall quality of children's residential provision.
	We are considering the Task and Finish Group's proposals alongside those made by the other expert groups and will announce the action we intend to take in due course.
	From April 2013, Ofsted will be introducing a new framework for inspecting local authority looked after children's services. This will pay particular attention to the quality of care, care planning, and risk assessment where children are placed a significant distance from their home. Ofsted will also evaluate the quality of sufficiency planning for looked after children, including the extent to which the local authority and its partners make plans to provide local placements that can meet the needs of the children in their care.

Citizenship: Education

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect which the proposed new baccalaureate qualification will have on the teaching of citizenship and political education.

Elizabeth Truss: A survey conducted recently by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Department for Education found no evidence that the introduction of the English baccalaureate has had an impact on the teaching of citizenship in secondary schools. Citizenship is a compulsory part of the national curriculum at KS4. Although pupils do not have to take an examination in the subject, they do have to follow the full programme of study for citizenship, which includes study of the political system.

Design: Education

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to ensure future teaching of design and technology in schools has a focus on manufacturing emphasis.

Elizabeth Truss: Design and technology is a compulsory National Curriculum subject in schools up to key stage 3. Its “resistant materials” and “systems and control” components are mandatory and young people choose a third component, either textiles or food. The first two components enable young people to learn about manufacturing in the context of applying electrical, electronic, mechanical, microprocessor and computer control systems.
	On 11 June 2012, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced that design and technology would continue to be compulsory in the new National Curriculum. We are currently considering the content of the revised National Curriculum Programme of Study for design and technology and will consult on a draft shortly.

Financial Services: Education

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the role of financial education within the curriculum; what representations his Department has received on the nature and effectiveness of financial education; whether he plans to review such evidence; and what steps he intends to take to improve the quality and prevalence of financial education in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 January 2013
	As part of the Government's review of the National Curriculum, I am considering the role of financial education within the curriculum.
	The Department has received representation from a number of groups and organisations, including the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education. The Department published evidence on the curricula of high-performing jurisdictions in December 2011 and a draft Programme of Study for primary mathematics in June 2012 as part of an informal consultation. The Government will consult on the new National Curriculum later this year.
	The new National Curriculum will raise expectations in relation to mathematics, including financial mathematics, through a renewed emphasis on arithmetic, money and percentages. This will enable young people to leave school with the numeracy skills needed to manage their own personal finances.
	Finance education can also be taught as part of non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education and finance education is being considered as part of the separate, internal review of PSHE education. We have conducted a consultation and are considering its conclusions.

Health Education: Alcoholic Drinks

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the role of alcohol education within the curriculum; what representations his Department has received on the nature and effectiveness of alcohol education; whether he plans to review such evidence; and what steps he intends to take to improve the quality and prevalence of alcohol education in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The Department has not conducted a specific assessment of alcohol education within the curriculum. Officials in the Department work closely with Drinkaware and Alcohol Concern and attend the Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network's education and prevention subgroup.
	From April 2013 a new two-year contract will be in place to deliver information and advice to practitioners, including teachers, in the field of drug and alcohol education. It will build on the best of national and international practice, and ensure commissioners and practitioners understand the evidence-base and use programmes known to be effective.

Official Cars

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many journeys were undertaken in his Department's allocated Ministerial car by each Minister in each month in each of the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: No Ministers have Government cars allocated to them individually. One departmental pool car is contracted to the Department. The number of journeys by each Minister is not known as all journeys are not logged.

Pupil Exclusions

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children have been permanently excluded from (a) academies and (b) maintained schools (i) since May 2010 and (ii) between 2005 and 2009.

Elizabeth Truss: The requested information for permanent exclusions in 2010/11 is shown in the table. To provide further data would incur disproportionate cost. The table shows academies and ail maintained schools.
	The Department has also produced analysis showing that in 2009/10, when comparing sponsored academies with local authority maintained schools with similar intakes, the average permanent exclusion rate for academies (0.32%) was only slightly higher than for the comparator schools (0.25%). The report ‘A profile of pupil exclusions in England' is available at
	https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR190.pdf
	The latest data on exclusions was published in the “Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2010/11” Statistical First Release on 25 July 2012 at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001080/index.shtml
	
		
			 Maintained schools and academies(1 )permanent exclusions—England, 2010/11 
			   Permanent exclusions 
			  Number of schools(1) Number of permanent exclusions Percentage of the school population(2) 
			 Maintained schools 20,845 4,370 0.06 
			 Primary 16,876 610 0.01 
			 Secondary(3) 3,011 3,660 0.12 
			 Special(4) 958 100 0.12 
			     
			 All academies 300 700 0.25 
		
	
	
		
			 Of which:    
			 Primary converter academies 8 0 0.00 
			 Of which:    
			 Secondary converter academies 25 30 0.10 
			 Of which:    
			 Secondary sponsored academies 267 660 0.27 
			 (1) Includes schools open as at January 2011. Schools are shown as academies only if they had academy status at 12 September 2010. Some schools converted to academy status after 12 September 2010 and are shown as maintained schools in this table. Four sponsored academies that opened in January 2011 are excluded. (2) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of pupils (excluding dually registered pupils) as at January 2011. (3) Excludes city technology colleges. (4) Excludes general hospital schools and non-maintained special schools. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many officials are working to support the implementation of the pupil premium; and what analysis such officials have made of the likelihood of a shortfall in the uptake of pupil premium by parents and whether this will have a detrimental effect on schools funding.

David Laws: Fifteen officials within the Department for Education are currently working to support the implementation of the pupil premium.
	The value of the pupil premium increases to £900 per pupil in April 2013. Schools' pupil premium budgets are determined by the number of pupils in their schools who have been entitled to free school meals in the last six years and the number of pupils continuously in public care for more than six months. In 2012-13, pupil premium is paid in respect of some 1,924,920 children and the funding available through pupil premium is worth £1.25 billion.
	The 2013/14 service premium of £300 per pupil is determined by the number of pupils whose parents are known to be serving in the armed forces, or who have either died in service or left it since April 2011.
	The largest source of pupil premium funding for schools is in relation to pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM). Benefits data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) suggests that around 200,000 pupils aged 4-15 in England are entitled to receive FSMs but are not claiming them. Some of these 200,000 pupils will still receive the pupil premium through our “Ever 6” FSM measure which extends eligibility to pupils who have claimed FSM at any point in the last six years; our available data does not allow us to estimate how many of the 200,000 pupils will already be attracting premium funding.
	This means that, while the overall funding for disadvantaged pupils from the premium remains the same, some schools may not be receiving pupil premium funding for all of their pupils who might be eligible. We believe that every child who is eligible for free school meals should be registered for them—so that the pupils benefit from a nutritious meal every day, and so that schools are able to attract the appropriate pupil premium funding for their disadvantaged pupils.
	That is why the Department published research on 19 November 2012 which highlights local areas where take-up rates are low, available at: FSM take-up research report. This publication forms part of our wider efforts, set out as follows, to increase registration for free school meals.
	Officials have written to local authorities with low FSM registration rates to encourage them to increase registration. Our funding for the School Food Trust enables it to carry out work to increase take-up of free school meals. It has produced a 'Free School Meals Matter Toolkit' which provides schools with information and advice to help them to encourage all eligible pupils to register for, and take, their free school meal.
	We have streamlined the application process by developing an online eligibility checking service (ECS), which allows local authorities to establish a family's free school meal eligibility quickly. The ECS allows parents to check their own eligibility and apply online. We want all local authorities to use this resource, which, as well as reducing bureaucracy and cost at a local level, encourages more parents to sign up their children for free school meals.
	The school census figures published on 21 June 2012 show that registration for free school meals increased by 0.1% in both primary and secondary schools nationally.

Schools: Admissions

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what exceptions from the Schools Admissions Code he has granted to schools since his appointment.

David Laws: All Academies and Free Schools are required by their funding agreement to comply with the School Admissions Code 2012. The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), can agree different arrangements for individual Academies or Free Schools, but has done so only in exceptional and limited circumstances and only where it is clear that the change would benefit local children and the community.
	To date, the Secretary of State has not agreed exceptions to the School Admissions Code for any Academies. Three University Technical Colleges have requested derogations from the Admissions Code in order to be able to recruit separately to each of their technical specialisms. In the case of open Free Schools, the Secretary of State has granted exceptions in four circumstances for a small number of schools. The first is to allow schools which opened in 2012 to admit children who are eligible for the Pupil Premium and service premium or are the children of members of staff at the school a year ahead of when all Academies and Free Schools were permitted to do so by the new School Admissions Code. The second is to allow a small number of founders' children priority in the admission arrangements. The third is to allow newly opening Free Schools to be exempt from the coordinated admissions round, if their timetable would make it too complex or difficult to participate in the local authority coordinating exercise. The fourth was for Europa Free School to prioritise the admission of children at the existing European school, which closes in 2017, to the Free School.

Schools: Playing Fields

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications to change the use of school playing fields his Department has received in the last 12 months; how many such applications have received consent; and whether such applications are considered by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel.

David Laws: Since 1 February 2012, schools and local authorities—including local authorities holding land for academies—have been required to seek permission from the Secretary of State for Education for all proposals to change the use of school playing fields.
	In the last 12 months there have been 14 applications for consent to change of use, of which six have been approved and eight are currently under consideration.
	Applications for consent for change of use where the land will remain within the education estate are not considered by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel.

Special Educational Needs

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will require local authorities to report on their local offer of services and activities for young people;
	(2)  how he will determine what a sufficient local offer of services and activities for young people is;
	(3)  when the local offer of services for young people by each local authority will be reviewed to determine what constitutes a sufficient local offer;
	(4)  what steps he plans to take in respect of those local authorities that do not publish at least annually (a) plans for improving young people's wellbeing and personal and social development, (b) relevant funding and performance data and (c) feedback from young people on the quality of the local offer of services and activities for young people;
	(5)  what steps he will take in respect of local authorities which do not provide a sufficient local offer of services and activities for young people.

Edward Timpson: The draft legislation, “Reform of provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs” published in September 2012, sets out proposals requiring local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs. The local offer would set out what families can expect from local services across education, health and social care and the eligibility criteria for accessing those services where appropriate.
	Detailed requirements for the local offer will be set out in regulations. These requirements will be informed by the learning and effective practice developed by the pathfinders. Local authorities would also be required to involve local children, young people and families in developing their local offer to ensure that their needs and aspirations are taken into account.
	Local authorities would be required to keep their local offer under review. This would enable the local authority to ensure their local offer continued to meet the needs of local children and young people with special educational needs and their parents.
	Each service would be accountable for delivering what is set out in the local offer and if families are unhappy with what they receive or what is available they would be able to take this up with those services. The local offer would give details of how to complain about provision and about rights of appeal.
	If a local authority did not meet its statutory obligations in respect of the local offer a complaint could be made to the local government ombudsman and if necessary to the Secretary of State for Education.
	The Education Select Committee published the report of its pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft special educational needs provisions on 18 December. The Government will give careful consideration to the Committee's report and publish its response in due course. It will also take the Committee's report into consideration when framing legislation on children and families for introduction to Parliament.

Teachers: Job Satisfaction

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve morale among members of the teaching profession.

David Laws: Teachers play one of the most critical of all roles in society, and the Government is committed to raising the status of the teaching profession so that the very best people have responsibility for our children's education. It is right that we should all have high expectations of teachers, and the Government makes no apology for striving to raise standards in teaching, whether in training new teachers or ensuring the quality of those already in the profession.
	Teachers deserve to feel valued in the crucial work they do, and the Government is taking clear steps to support the profession. It is encouraging that a survey of over a thousand teachers conducted by the Times Educational Supplement found that teachers on the whole feel very positive about the work they do, and a clear majority would recommend teaching as a career. A recent survey by the Teaching Agency also found that eight out of 10 final-year undergraduates feel that the profession has real status—a figure that is increasing year on year.
	Unnecessary bureaucracy and Government interference has previously prevented teachers from getting on with their jobs. We have therefore reduced significantly the amount of central prescription faced by teachers and increased the freedoms and flexibilities they enjoy, placing much greater trust in their professional judgment.
	We believe that good teachers should be appropriately rewarded for their achievements. We therefore asked the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to look at how more effective links could be made between teachers' pay and performance. The STRB has now recommended that head teachers should be free to pay good teachers more, unconstrained by the amount of time they have served. The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has indicated that he intends to accept the STRB's recommendations, subject to statutory consultation. Head teachers of academies and free schools already enjoy greater flexibility in how they can reward their best teachers.
	It is hugely discouraging for good teachers when they see poor performance holding back pupils' achievement and damaging the public perception of the profession. That is why we have introduced a simplified and streamlined system of appraisal which supports head teachers in effectively tackling underperformance and ultimately removing poor teachers from the profession.
	Poor behaviour by pupils can represent one of the greatest challenges to teachers' morale. That is why we have given teachers the powers and support they need to manage poor behaviour effectively, clarifying advice on their power to use force, strengthening teachers' powers to search pupils, and removing the requirement to give 24 hours' notice prior to a detention out of school hours. A survey published in June 2012 suggested that teachers are feeling more positive about standards of behaviour in schools, and a clear majority of respondents felt well equipped to manage pupil behaviour effectively.
	We have also introduced a new pupil premium to give more resources to teachers in the schools with the highest number of disadvantaged pupils.

Teachers: Qualifications

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people obtained each type of school-based qualification in (a) music, (b) drama, (c) theatre studies and (d) art in 2011; what assessment he has made of the value of such qualifications to the UK creative industries; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The arts are a major contributor to the UK economy. They make a vital contribution to our social life and to our economic well-being. Music and visual and performing arts contribute over £4 billion to the British economy in gross value added. The creative industries overall contribute £36 billion.
	Every child should have the chance while at school to perform and appreciate great music; to paint, draw and sculpt; to enjoy dance; and to master the principles of design and craftsmanship. A wide range of qualifications is available to reflect pupils' achievements in these areas, and those which are of high quality and provide a good basis for progression to further study or employment have been approved for inclusion in the Key Stage 4 performance tables in 2014 and 2015. The list of non-GCSE/iGCSE qualifications that will count in Key Stage 4 performance tables in 2015 includes nine qualifications in art and design, three qualifications in music and seven qualifications in performing arts.
	The number of pupils achieving the following qualifications at the end of Key Stage 4 is set out as follows:
	
		
			 Qualification Subject Number of pupils 
			 (a) Music   
			 BTEC First Certificate Music Studies (General) 6,641 
			 BTEC First Diploma Music Studies (General) 1,697 
			 Level 1/Level 2 Certificate Music 241 
		
	
	
		
			 Legacy iGCSE Music 2 
			 GCE AS level Music 140 
			 GCE AS level Music Technology 24 
			 GCSE Full Course Music 42,758 
			 Other General Qualification at Level 1 Music performance: Group 71 
			 Other General Qualification at Level 2 Music performance: Group 354 
			 VRQ Level 1 Music performance: Group 148 
			 VRQ Level 1 Music Studies (General) 4 
			 VRQ Level 1 Music Technology (Electronic) 113 
			 VRQ Level 2 Music performance: Group 66 
			 VRQ Level 2 Music Studies (General) 1,853 
			 VRQ Level 2 Music Technology (Electronic) 1,124 
			    
			 (b) Drama   
			 BTEC First Certificate Speech & Drama 15,617 
			 BTEC First Diploma Speech & Drama 7,242 
			 GCE AS level Drama & Theatre Studies 141 
			 GCSE Full Course Drama & Theatre Studies 74,223 
			 VRQ Level 1 Speech & Drama 6,542 
			 VRQ Level 2 Speech & Drama 5,484 
			    
			 (c) Theatre Studies   
			 GCE AS level Drama & Theatre Studies 141 
			 GCSE Full Course Drama & Theatre Studies 74,223 
			 VRQ Level 2 Set Design (Theatre) 20 
			    
			 (d)Art   
			 Applied GCE AS level Applied Art & Design 6 
			 Applied GCE AS level Performing Arts 35 
			 Applied GCE AS level Double Award Applied Art & Design 5 
			 BTEC First Certificate Art & Design 13,991 
			 BTEC First Diploma Art & Design 6,474 
			 Level 1/Level 2 Certificate Art & Design 37 
			 Legacy iGCSE Art & Design 7 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design 124 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design (3d Studies) 2 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design (Fine Art) 141 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design (Graphics) 34 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design (Photography) 97 
			 GCE AS level Art & Design (Textiles) 26 
			 GCSE (Double award) Performing Arts 1,115 
			 GCSE Full Course Applied Art & Design 1,462 
			 GCSE Full Course Art& Design 84,892 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (3d Studies) 2,357 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (Critical Studies) 168 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (Fine Art) 50,518 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (Graphics) 5,778 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (Photography) 9,805 
			 GCSE Full Course Art & Design (Textiles) 7,270 
			 GCSE Full Course Expressive Arts & Performance Studies 6,097 
			 GCSE Full Course Performing Arts 1,702 
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design 2,374 
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design (3d Studies) 41 
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design (Fine Art) 666 
		
	
	
		
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design (Graphics) 4 
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design (Photography) 160 
			 GCSE Short Course Art & Design (Textiles) 23 
			 OCR National Award at Level 1 Art & Design 3 
			 OCR National Award at Level 2 Art & Design 576 
			 OCR National Certificate at Level 2 Art & Design 246 
			 OCR National First Award at Level 1 Art & Design 25 
			 Vocational GCSE Double Award Applied Art & Design . 75 
			 Vocational GCSE Double Award Performing Arts 162 
			 Vocational GCSE Single Award Performing Arts 1,215 
			 VRQ Level 1 Art & Design, Art 666 
			 VRQ Level 1 Techniques/Practical Art 613 
			 VRQ Level 1 Art: Specific Techniques 38 
			 VRQ Level 1 Arts & Culture, Administration 52 
			 VRQ Level 1 Ceramics Arts/Crafts 15 
			 VRQ Level 1 Graphic Arts 23 
			 VRQ Level 1 Performing Arts Teaching/Training 4,010 
			 VRQ Level 1 Visual Arts 62 
			 VRQ Level 2 Art & Design 4,037 
			 VRQ Level 2 Art Techniques/Practical Art 1,623 
			 VRQ Level 2 Art: Specific Techniques 344 
			 VRQ Level 2 Arts & Culture, Administration 16 
		
	
	
		
			 VRQ Level 2 Cartoon Drawing 676 
			 VRQ Level 2 Party Decorations 11 
			 VRQ Level 2 Visual Arts 347 
			 Notes: 1. Discounting has not be applied here as the total number of pupils obtaining qualifications in these subject areas was requested. 2. Qualifications have been grouped to attempt to eliminate retakes of the same qualification. 3. Includes attempts and achievements in previous academic years. 4. VRQs represent a basket of vocationally related qualifications.

Written Questions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what average time it takes his Department to provide a substantive response to (a) an ordinary written parliamentary question, (b) a named-day written parliamentary question and (c) a Freedom of Information Act 2000 request; how many named-day written questions were not answered on time in 2011; and what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to parliamentary questions.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 January 2013
	The Department does not collect data on the average time it takes to provide a substantive response to either written parliamentary questions (PQs) or freedom of information (FOI) requests. Statistics on the timeliness of Commons written PQs for the period November 2011 to November 2012 are set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 Commons named day PQs 
			  2011 2012 
			 Performance Against Standard Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov 
			 Due for answer 97 69 66 51 73 53 57 75 51 (1)— 48 76 81 
			 Answered 76 46 59 39 54 53 45 43 38 n/a 16 54 56 
			 Met Parliamentary deadline (set by MP) 13 (13%) 10 (14%) 23 19 16 20 15 4 10 n/a 3 17 6 
			  27 21 35% 37% 22% 38% 26% 5% 20% n/a 6% 22% 7% 
			 Answered 1-5 days late 36 15 24 14 24 32 26 29 28 n/a 9 32 37 
			 Answered 6 or more days late 204 135' 12 6 14 1 4 10 0 n/a 4 5 13 
		
	
	
		
			 Commons ordinary written PQs 
			  2011 2012 
			 Performance Against Standard Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov 
			 Due for answer 131 111 170 151 118 101 143 122 130 n/a 161 134 159 
			 Answered 32 (16%) 22 (16%) 153 148 111 101 120 85 108 n/a 108 110 137 
			 Met Parliamentary deadline (5 working days) 41 33 79 89 68 56 63 10 40 n/a 26 57 41 
			  58 56 46% 59% 58% 55% 44% 8% 31% n/a 24% 43% 26% 
			 Answered 1-5 days late 20 24 31 44 32 45 57 33 63 n/a 66 50 74 
			 Answered 6 or more days late 14 22 43 15 11 0 0 42 5 n/a 16 3 22 
			 (1) Recess. 
		
	
	The Department's performance for Named Day written questions during 2011 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  2011 
			 Performance Against Standard Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 
			 Due for answer 103 82 93 46 75 84 67 (1)— 52 63 97 69 
			 Answered 103 82 92 40 71 76 64 n/a 47 51 76 46 
			 Met Parliamentary deadline (set by MP) 2 6 18 19 19 21 22 n/a 14 6 13 10 
			  2% 7% 19% 41% 25% 25% 33% n/a 27% 10% 13% 14% 
			 Answered 1-5 days late 29 1 53 1 32 45 37 n/a 20 29 27 21 
			 Answered 6 or more days late 72 75 21 20 20 10 5 n/a 13 16 36 15 
			 (1) Recess. 
		
	
	The Department has increased the size of the team that deals with Parliamentary Questions and has a robust plan in place to improve performance. Work is in train to procure a new IT system and streamline the current internal Departmental processes.
	Statistics on Freedom of Information requests received by the Department in quarter 3 of 2012 are published by the Ministry of Justice on their website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/foi/implementation
	Statistics for previous quarters and years are published by the Ministry of Justice on their website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/foi/implementation/implementation-editions

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bangladesh

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made a recent assessment of the political situation in Bangladesh and the effect this has had on the geopolitical situation in the wider region.

Alistair Burt: The next elections are due in Bangladesh by January 2014. The UK wants to see a free and fair election, resulting in a stable, prosperous and democratic Bangladesh. To achieve this, Bangladesh needs to have strong, independent institutions and a functioning Parliament at the centre of political debate, where the focus is on policies for the people, not confrontation. Bangladesh has a strong relationship within the wider region, not least as a trade partner, and shares its immediate borders with both India and Burma (Myanmar). We note, with concern, reports of political violence in Bangladesh and strongly encourage all parties to engage in constructive politics and to resolve differences through dialogue and peaceful process, for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh and the wider region.

Bangladesh

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the current civil unrest in Bangladesh on the forthcoming elections in that country.

Alistair Burt: It is too early to say how the current civil unrest might affect the forthcoming elections in Bangladesh.
	All citizens have a right to hold their governments to account including through legitimate and peaceful protests. However, violence and vandalism have no place in legitimate protests. I hope that the citizens of Bangladesh choose to raise their concerns or grievances through peaceful means.
	The UK wants to see a stable, prosperous and democratic Bangladesh. To achieve this, Bangladesh needs to have strong, independent institutions and a functioning parliament at the centre of political debate, where the focus is on policies for the people, not confrontation. We strongly encourage all parties to engage in constructive politics and to resolve differences through dialogue and peaceful process, for the good of the people of Bangladesh.
	We urge all political parties to work together constructively to ensure the next general election, which is scheduled to take place by January 2014, is free, fair and fully inclusive. The UK, through the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has a broad programme to promote better governance including a programme to help strengthen Parliament and the Election Commission.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to begin negotiations on the optional extension of the use of the British Indian Ocean Territory and Diego Garcia by the US Administration; and if he plans for any such extension to be accompanied by a payment to the Exchequer by the US Administration.

Mark Simmonds: The 1966 Exchange of Notes with the US provides that the islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), including Diego Garcia, shall be available to them until 2016 and continuing thereafter for a further period of 20 years unless terminated by either Government in the period 2014-16. There have been no substantive discussions to date with the US on the future of the US presence in BIOT post-2016 nor has a timetable been set for any such discussions.

China

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Chinese Government in respect of the apparent restriction of freedom of expression at the Southern Weekend Newspaper.

Hugo Swire: We are closely following events resulting from the alleged censorship of editorial content at the Guangzhou-based “Southern Weekend” newspaper.
	We remain concerned that the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press in China are severely restricted, including through state censorship and interference with the editorial independence of the press.
	We regularly raise these concerns with the Chinese Government both in Beijing and via their embassy in London.

Colombia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Edmonton of 9 May 2011, Official Report, column 986W, on Colombia: politics and government, what reports he has received on the recent conviction and sentencing to 18 years imprisonment of David Rabelo in Colombia; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: On 6 December 2012 a judge publicly announced that David Ravelo Crespo had been sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of aggravated homicide.
	Our embassy in Bogota has received letters from several civil society organisations expressing their concerns about the sentence.
	On 20 December an embassy official visited Mr Ravelo in La Picota prison, along with representatives from the German and French embassies. Subsequently, on 21 December, our ambassador to Colombia wrote to the Inspector-General and Prosecutor-General requesting the Colombian Government's response to the concerns raised by civil society organisations and Mr Ravelo.
	While the UK cannot interfere in Colombia's judicial process, we will continue to monitor Mr Ravelo's case and raise any concerns regarding due process with the Colombian authorities.

Commonwealth

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants in his Department's London offices work (a) full-time and (b) part-time solely on supra-, intra- and inter-Commonwealth member affairs; and how many civil servants in his Department's London offices spend part of their time working on such areas.

Alistair Burt: There are a number of staff working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London who cover Commonwealth matters as a part of their work. This includes staff in Departments dealing with bilateral political relations with Commonwealth member countries, as well as staff working on thematic issues such as human rights' and climate change, where we seek to use the Commonwealth to advance these priorities.
	There is also a dedicated Commonwealth Unit in the FCO's International Organisations Department, which has recently increased to six members of staff. In addition to these staff members, senior staff in International Organisations Department are actively engaged in Commonwealth work, as are more senior staff across the wider FCO. The size of the Commonwealth Unit is kept under review and will change to reflect departmental priorities. For example, in the run up to the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, additional staff will help with the increased associated policy and logistics work.
	The central Human Resources management system cannot search by job content. In order to determine the exact number of staff working on Commonwealth matters, full time or part time, we would need to examine individual job descriptions, incurring disproportionate time and cost.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Lidington: Meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly in line with the Ministerial Code. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) returns from May 2010 to June 2012 record no meetings with Deloitte. Meetings of the Minister for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, are included in Department for Business, Innovation and Skills returns.
	External meetings of the permanent under-secretary (PUS) have been published since October 2010. Returns record no meetings with Deloitte. No central records are held for the meetings of other officials with external organisations. To collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	FCO quarterly returns can be found at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords =hospitality&publication_filter_option=transparency -data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=foreign-commonwealth-office&direction=before&date=2013-02-01
	Information for July-September 2012 will be published by Cabinet Office shortly.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department paid to Deloitte for consultancy services in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Lidington: Between 2010 and 2012 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid a total of £27,407.53 to Deloitte and Touche LLP for support for the FCO Home Estate management and development of a strategic outline case relating to the relocating of FCO staff; £10,348.74 to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Consultancy on managing the budget for delivering a Joint Conference on Leading Sustainability in Ottawa; and £3,023.97 to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd relating to finance consultancy to advise on managing post programme budgeting in India.
	The FCO is committed to procuring consultants/consultancy services in line with the Cabinet Office approvals process. Since July 2010 there has been a freeze on all new consultancy expenditure except where there is a strong business case to draw on specialised expertise that is not available internally. Such a business case requires Cabinet Office approval in addition to internal approval for new and existing consultancy spend over £20,000. and submitted for re-approval every three months from the date of contract commencement. Contracts are reviewed regularly and any request to prolong a consultancy agreement beyond nine months must be submitted to the Efficiency Reform Group (ERG) at the Cabinet Office.

India

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian authorities on womens' rights following the rape and murder of a woman on 16 December 2012.

Hugo Swire: I was shocked and saddened to hear of this horrific crime and I would like to offer my condolences to the family of the victim. While the British Government has not made formal representations to the Government of India following this case. I have noted the steps the Government of India has already taken like fast-track courts and public safety measures. I understand that progress has been made by the Delhi police in their investigation, though the judicial process is of course a matter for the Indian authorities.

Iran

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meeting he and officials in his Department have had with their Iranian counterparts since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has had two meetings with the Iranian Foreign Minister since 2010.
	There were regular meetings between UK and Iranian officials from January 2010 to December 2011. We then reduced diplomatic relations to the lowest level, following the attack on our embassy in Tehran. Since December 2011 there has been occasional contact between UK and Iranian officials. We conduct our diplomatic business with Iran principally through the Swedish embassy in Tehran as well as the Omani embassy in London as they are the Protecting Powers for both the UK and Iran respectively.

Israel

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in the event that the Israeli Government announces further settlements in the west bank.

Alistair Burt: The UK position on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. We consistently call on the Israeli authorities to cease all settlement building and to remove illegal outposts, as required under international law and in fulfilment of Israel's obligations under the Quartet Roadmap.
	Any decisions about what steps or actions we might take in the event of any future Israeli Government settlement announcements will be made at that time.

Israel

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities on the recording of police interviews with children.

Alistair Burt: During his visit to Israel in November 2012 the Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), raised the issue of audio-visual recording of interviews with Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention, as recommended in an independent report by British legal experts, with the Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and other senior interlocuters. Mr Weinstein agreed to further talks between UK and British legal experts on the subject. This followed previous discussions between the British embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli authorities on this and other recommendations made in the June 2012 report.

Kashmir

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Pakistani and Indian governments urging the need for restraint following the recent incident resulting in the death and serious injury at Haji Pir sector in Kashmir.

Alistair Burt: The UK is concerned about the recent incidents on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir. We call for an end to the violence there and for all sides to exercise restraint. We welcome the call for dialogue from both sides in response to these incidents and the need not to derail the recent positive developments in bilateral relations. Officials in Islamabad and Delhi are in touch with Governments in both capitals.

Middle East

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will conduct an assessment of whether any UK manufactured weapons or components were used by Israeli military forces during Operation Pillar of Defence in November 2012.

Alistair Burt: The British embassy in Tel Aviv has monitored and assessed, to the extent possible, the conduct of Operation Pillar of Defence including the type and nature of the weapons used. To date, based on the information available, we have no evidence of the use of UK manufactured weapons or components by the Israeli military forces during the operation.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which events at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were attended by each Minister in his Department using tickets or passes for which they did not pay personally; and what the cost was of attending each such event for members of the public who used comparable seats or had comparable access.

Hugo Swire: The Government pledged to publish these details following the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will do so shortly.

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many research contracts commissioned by his Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Lidington: As is the case with all Government Departments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) adopts a transparent tendering process for all contracts. There have been no research contracts commissioned without a proper tendering process by the FCO in the United Kingdom. To supply the information for all our overseas posts would involve disproportionate cost.

Redundancy

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what the cost of redundancies has been in each such year.

Alistair Burt: Since 1999 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made one permanent member of staff compulsorily redundant in 2012. Payments equivalent to statutory redundancy have been made to two non-permanent members of staff who were appointed on fixed-term contracts and entitled to a redundancy payment following the expiry of their contracts. The total cost of these payments was £22,479.57. The FCO only runs exit schemes in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. All schemes run across the civil service and are approved by the Cabinet Office.
	In addition, the FCO has run a range of voluntary early exit schemes (VES) since 1999. The current scheme has been in existence since December 2010.
	In 2010-11, 131 staff left the FCO, at a cost of £15.3 million. 118 of these left under old exit schemes.
	In 2011-12, 89 staff left the FCO, at a cost of £5.3 million.
	Although we ran early exit schemes in previous years these used different rules and we do not have comparable data for this period. It would incur disproportionate costs to search individual files to determine exact numbers and cost.

Tibet

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the restriction on the religious freedom and freedom of movement of Lama Soepa, who self-immolated in protest at travel restrictions in January 2012.

Hugo Swire: We are aware of this case and are seeking further information.
	The UK strongly supports the right to freedom of religion and belief and the right to peaceful protest for all. We are deeply concerned about the large numbers of self-immolations that have occurred in Tibetan areas since March 2011. I issued a statement on 17 December 2012 urging the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint with protestors, and to make every effort to resume meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives as the best way to achieve a long-term solution to underlying tensions.
	Alongside the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Baroness Ashton and other international partners, I also urged Tibetans not to resort to extreme forms of protest such as self-immolation, and urged their community and religious leaders to use their influence to stop this tragic loss of life. We will continue to raise these issues with the Chinese authorities, including at senior levels.

Tibet

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect the human rights of people living in Tibet.

Hugo Swire: We remain very concerned about the large numbers of self-immolations that have occurred in Tibetan areas since March 2011, and about the human rights situation in Tibet. I issued a statement on Tibet on 17 December 2012. In this statement, I called on Tibetans not to resort to extreme forms of protest such as self-immolation, and urged their community and religious leaders to use their influence to stop this tragic loss of life.
	We regularly raise our concerns about Tibet with the Chinese authorities, most recently at senior level on 21 December. We will continue to raise these issues with the Chinese authorities including at senior levels. Unfortunately their position remains resolute in response.

Vietnam

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Vietnam calling for the release from imprisonment of Doan Huy Chuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung.

Hugo Swire: We continue to engage with the Vietnamese authorities through the EU on a list of persons and detainees of concern, which includes Doan Huy Chuong, Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung. We continue to seek to obtain information about the welfare of the detainees and to request their immediate release. Our ambassador also raises such human rights issues with the Vietnamese Government bilaterally. Human rights remain integral to our Strategic Partnership with Vietnam and we remain concerned about alleged abuses there.

Vietnam

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has received on trades union rights in Vietnam.

Hugo Swire: The right to freedom of association and to collective bargaining remains restricted in Vietnam. At present all official trade unions must be approved by and be affiliated with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), which is an umbrella organisation with close links to the Communist Party of Vietnam. With EU partners, we continue to engage with the Vietnamese Government on trade union rights in Vietnam. We have raised our concerns with the Vietnamese authorities on aspects of the new Labour Code and Trade Union Law, in particular the lack of provisions to ensure the rights to form trade unions and to strike. These issues were also included in the EU/Vietnam Aide Memoire for the EU-Vietnam Human Rights dialogue held in January 2012.

Visits Abroad

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times UK Government Ministers or officials used official aircraft belonging to foreign governments to make official visits in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

David Lidington: Information for all of Government is not held centrally, and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) holds records for FCO Ministers in 2011 and 2012. FCO Ministers and accompanying officials travelled on foreign government aircraft on 10 occasions in 2011 and on seven occasions in 2012. Information for FCO officials is not held centrally, and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.

JUSTICE

Burglary: Convictions

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of domestic burglary offences in the (a) North East and (b) UK in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of people convicted of domestic burglary offences in the North East and England and Wales from 2007 to 2011 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
	Court Proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	Data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Government and the Department of Justice Northern Ireland.
	
		
			 Number of persons found guilty at all courts for burglary in a dwelling offences(1) in the north-east Government office region (GOR)(2) and England and Wales, 2007-11(3, 4) 
			 Area 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 England and Wales 13,138 (5)13,471 13,355 14,296 14,450 
			 Of which:      
			 North East GOR 827 786 792 822 842 
			 (1) Includes burglary, and aggravated burglary, in a dwelling—Theft Act 1968 sections 9, 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b), 10. (2) Includes: Cleveland police force area; Durham police force area; Northumbria police force area (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (5) Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Chief Coroner

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times he has met the newly-appointed chief coroner since his appointment.

Helen Grant: The Secretary of State for Justice and I have met the chief coroner once since the chief coroner took up post in September 2012.

Community Orders

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  where he intends to use global systems for mobile communications to monitor offenders in the community; and what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing such a system during the first year of operation;
	(2)  whether new technologies will be used to monitor exclusion requirements on community penalties; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of introducing such measures;
	(3)  whether new technologies will be used to monitor travel prohibition requirements on community penalties; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of introducing such measures;
	(4)  whether new technologies will be used to monitor residence requirements on community penalties; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of introducing such measures.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is putting out to competition new contracts for the delivery of electronic monitoring services. The new contracts will allow us to introduce the most advanced technology, improving delivery and providing better value for taxpayers. It would not be appropriate to go into detail about the types of technology that are being explored or the precise purposes for which it may be used, or to give detailed cost information, while the competition is in progress.

Community Orders

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether new technologies will be used to monitor alcohol prohibition as part of a community penalty; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of introducing such measures.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 introduces an alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement which will be available to the court when making a community order or suspended sentence order.
	We are currently considering the most appropriate means of taking forward the statutory requirement to pilot the alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement. This will include both value for money considerations and the methods used to monitor alcohol consumption.

Drugs: Convictions

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of drug offences in the (a) north-east and (b) UK in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of people convicted of drug offences in the north-east and in England and Wales from 2007 to 2011 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	Data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Government and the Department of Justice Northern Ireland.
	
		
			 The number of persons found guilty at all courts for drug offence(1) in the North East Government office region (GOR)(2) and England and Wales, 2007-11(3,4) 
			 Area 2007 2008(5) 2009 2010 2011 
			 England and Wales 44,565 52,941 56,831 61,979 60,569 
			 Of which:      
			 North East GOR 2,667 2,626 2,908 3,030 3,140 
			 (1) Includes Sections 12, 13, 19(a), (b) Criminal Justice Co-Operation Act 1990, RR.6(5), 7, 8, and 9(2) Controlled Drugs (Drug Precursors)(Community External Trade) Regs 2008, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (SS.50(2), (3) and (5), 68 (2) and (4) and 170(1), (2), (3) and (4) and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 SS 327-330, 333, 334 (1,2) and 336 (5) and (6). (2) Includes: Cleveland police force area; Durham police force area; Northumbria police force area. (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (5) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Electronic Tagging

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what has been the total cost of placing offenders on electronic tags since 1 May 2010; and what comparative assessment he has done of the cost of placing offenders on electronic tags as opposed to other possible measures to be taken against offenders;
	(2)  what was the reason behind the imposition of each electronic tag imposed since 1 May 2010;
	(3)  how many offenders of each age up to 18 years and in each region in the UK who were placed on an electronic tag have re-offended since 1 May 2010; and what comparative assessment he has made of this figure against other possible measures to take against offenders;
	(4)  how many people in each age group up to 18 years and in each region of the UK have been placed on an electronic tag since 1 May 2010;
	(5)  how many people in each age group up to 18 years and in each region of the UK broke their curfew conditions while placed on an electronic tag since 1 May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The cost of the electronic monitoring contracts in England and Wales from May 2010 to November 2012 was £284.5 million.
	NOMS undertook the Specification, Benchmarking and Costing (SBC) Programme to assess the services it provides. The service specifications can be found at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/noms/noms-directory-of-services-and-specifications.htm
	Information on the type of new electronic monitoring orders imposed in England and Wales between May 2010 and December 2012 is contained in the following table:
	
		
			 Table 1: New electronic monitoring starts by order type, England and Wales, May 2010 to December 2012(1,2) 
			 Order type May 2010 to December 2012 
			 Bail 77,990 
			 Court order 162,027 
			 Release from prison 41,183 
			 Total 281,200 
			 (1) These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. (2) Before October 2010 extensions of bail curfews (e.g. when a monitored defendant attended court and was re-bailed) were classed as new starts, whereas afterwards they were not. This caused an apparent fall in bail new starts over the period. 
		
	
	Detailed reasons for the imposition of each electronic monitoring order are not collected centrally and would be available only at disproportionate cost. Information would only be available through a manual trawl of individual case records held by the electronic monitoring service providers and courts to determine the circumstances of each imposition.
	The Ministry of Justice is responsible for electronic monitoring in England and Wales. Juvenile (aged 10-17) proven re-offending data, by index disposal, for cohorts in England and Wales up to the 2010 cohort (latest available) are published in the Proven Re-offending Statistics Quarterly bulletin in table 18b, available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/reoffending/proven-reoffending-jan10-dec10-tables.xls
	Juveniles whose sentence included an electronically monitored curfew element are included in the proven re-offending rates for Youth Curfew Orders (60.5% of juvenile offenders who were released on curfew in 2010 committed a proven re-offence within 12 months from the start of their sentence) and Youth Rehabilitation Orders (69.5% of juvenile offenders who were given a Youth Rehabilitation Order in 2010 committed a proven re-offence within 12 months from the start of their sentence). The Youth Curfew Order rate includes curfew orders with and without electronic monitoring and is one of nine separate youth sentences that were incorporated into the Youth Rehabilitation Order which came into effect for offences committed from 30 November 2009; electronic monitoring is one of 18 requirements that can be made as part of the Youth Rehabilitation Order; therefore these rates include individuals whose sentence did not include an electronically monitored curfew requirement. Disaggregating these data would be possible only at disproportionate cost.
	Please note that the Ministry's proven re-offending data measure re-offending of offenders within 12 months of commencing a court order. Therefore, this will not include all re-offences committed while subject to a court order: (a) some sentences last less than 12 months so an offender may no longer be subject to a court order at the time of committing the re-offence; and (b) some sentences last more than 12 months and the re-offending measure will not pick up any re-offences committed in months 13 and beyond.
	A proven re-offence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.
	Proven re-offending rates for offenders receiving Youth Curfew Orders and Youth Rehabilitation Orders should not be compared to the proven re-offending rates for other sentences, as there is no control for known differences in offender characteristics.
	The Ministry of Justice is responsible for electronic monitoring in England and Wales. Between May 2010 and December 2012, 47,698 new electronically monitored curfews with juvenile subjects (aged 10-17) commenced in England and Wales. Further age breakdowns are not collected centrally.
	Breach data before September 2010 are only available at disproportionate cost due to data crossover when the contractor's case management system was upgraded. For orders ending between September 2010 and December 2012 in England and Wales, 26,624 juvenile orders were reported by the contractors to the appropriate authority for breach action at least once, of 41,038 juvenile orders ending in that period.
	The data are from the electronic monitoring service providers. The information held refers to breaches reported to the courts or to the relevant authority such as the probation service, Prison Service, Youth Offending Service, or police, and does not necessarily relate to breach action taken. In many cases the subject went on to complete the order with no need for further intervention.
	The breach figure includes occasions where a bail order was revoked by the court but the contractor was not informed. Subsequent 'absences' or 'tampers' are reported to the appropriate authority for breach action but are not genuine breaches. These cannot be separated from genuine breaches without disproportionate cost. Information would only be available through a manual trawl of individual case records held by the electronic monitoring service providers and courts to determine the circumstances of each beach and the outcome of investigation.

Insurance

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings Ministers of his Department have had with representatives of the insurance industry since May 2010, by date and topic of discussion; and who was in attendance at each such meeting.

Jeremy Wright: The following meetings have taken place with representatives of the insurance industry since May 2010:
	
		
			 Date Minister Organisation Subject Attendees 
			 29 July 2010 Jonathan Djanogly Association of British Insurers (ABI) Reforms to civil litigation funding and costs. James Dalton (Assistant Director, Property, Motor and Liability); Nick Starling (Director of General Insurance and Health) 
			 4 July 2011 Jonathan Djanogly Association of British Insurers (ABI) Reforms to civil litigation funding and costs (Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012). Nick Starling, Director of General Insurance and Health and Amy Baker, Parliamentary Affairs Manager; James Dalton (Assistant Director, Property, Motor and Liability); Dominic Clayden Director of Technical Claims, Aviva 
		
	
	
		
			 14 February 2012 Nick Herbert Prime Minister's Insurance Summit Issue of increasing costs of motor insurance premiums. The right hon. David Cameron MP, Prime Minister; The right hon. Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Transport; the right hon. Oliver Letwin, Minister of State, Cabinet Office; Nick Herbert, Minister of State for Justice; Otto Thoresen, Director General, ABI; David Stevens, COO, Admiral; Trevor Matthews, Chief Executive, Aviva UK; Paul Evans, Group CEO, Axa UK and Ireland; David Riches, Director of Operations, British Chamber of Commerce; John Cridland, Director General, CBI; Mary Boughton, small business owner; David Neave, Director of General Insurance, Co-operative Insurance; Judith Hackitt, Chair, Health and Safety Executive; Paul Geddes, Chief Executive, RBS Insurance; Ann Robinson, Uswitch; Stephen Lewis, CEO, Zurich UK 
			 22 March 2012 Jonathan Djanogly Meeting with stakeholders from the insurance sector To inform the RTA scheme extension call for evidence Samantha Ramen, Association of British Insurers; Deborah Evans, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL); Robert Khan, The Law Society; John Ransford, Local Government Association; Professor Paul Fenn, Nottingham Business School; Paul Ryman Tubb, Forum of Insurance Lawyers; Adam Lent, TUC; Donna Scully, Motoring Accident Solicitors (MASS); Michelle Irving, British Retail Consortium; Laurence Besemer, Forum of Insurance Lawyers; Ashley Sutton, Motor Insurers Bureau; Nick Starling, Association of British Insurers; John Spencer, Motoring Accident Solicitors (MASS); Fraser Whitehead, The Law Society; Alan Nesbit, Association of Regulated Claims Management Companies (ARC); Ian Stark, Association of Costs Lawyers; Stephen Alambritis, Federation of Small Businesses 
			 2 May 2012 Jonathan Djanogly Second Insurance Summit Issue of increasing costs of motor insurance premiums Justine Greening, Secretary for State for Transport (Chair); Oliver Letwin, Cabinet Office, Minister of State; Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport; Jonathan Djanogly, Ministry of Justice, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State; Simon Burns, Minister of State for Health; Otto Thoresen and Nick Starling, ABI; David Stevens, CEO, Admiral; David McMillan, CEO, Aviva UK and Ireland; Paul Evans, Group CEO, Axa UK and Ireland; David Neave, Director of General Insurance, Co-operative Insurance; Tom Woolgove, MD, Personal Lines, RBS Insurance; Adrian Brown, UK Chief Executive, RSA; Stephen Lewis, CEO, Zurich UK; Keith Morris, MD, Sabre and Chair of the Motor Insurers Bureau; Graeme Trudgill, British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA); Ann Robinson, Uswitch; Peter Vicary-Smith, Chief Executive, Which 
		
	
	The Department publishes quarterly meetings between Ministers and external organisations. Quarters from October 2012 will be published in due course. This can be found at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/corporate-reports

Prisoners: Marriage

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place to permit a (a) marriage and (b) civil partnership to take place when both parties are serving a prison sentence.

Jeremy Wright: Under the terms of the Marriage Act 1983, all prisoners can exercise their right to marry under civil law while in custody (in the place of detention) and this right is reinforced under article 12 of the Human Rights Act. This is normally initiated by way of a formal application to the governor/director.
	Similarly any prisoner wishing to enter in to a civil partnership may do so under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which makes specific provision for the registration of a civil partnership where at least one of the proposed civil partners is a detained person.
	It is the sole responsibility of any prisoner(s) and their intended partner to comply with requirements of the civil or church authorities, including the production of all necessary documentation (e.g. passports, birth certificates, divorce decrees, or parental consent), as well as ensuring that all relevant fees are met.
	The applicable National Offender Management Service policy can be found in the following two documents:
	Prison Service Order (PSO) 4450 Marriage of Prisoners; and
	Prison Service Order (PSO) 4445 Civil Partnership Registration,
	copies of which can be found at:
	www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/psos

Prisons: Drugs

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2012, Official Report, columns 665-6W, on prisons: drugs, how many tests for opiates were conducted in prisons in England and Wales in each year from 2002 to 2011.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of mandatory drug tests conducted in prisons across England and Wales in each year from 2002 to 2011. All mandatory drug tests include a test for opiates.
	
		
			  Number of tests 
			 2002 79,313 
			 2003 82,283 
			 2004 88,196 
			 2005 92,472 
			 2006 97,948 
			 2007 99,790 
			 2008 97,584 
			 2009 97,270 
			 2010 94,529 
			 2011 97,721 
			 Total 927,106 
		
	
	During this period prisons will have also conducted voluntary, compact based and/or clinical drugs tests for opiates. Data on the number of these tests conducted are not held centrally.
	All figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Prisons: Drugs

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were convicted of drug-related offences while already serving a prison sentence in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: Information on how many prisoners are convicted of an offence while already serving a prison sentence is not held centrally. However, data are available on proven offences dealt with by the prison adjudication process.
	The following table gives the total number of proven unauthorised transaction/possession offences committed by prisoners in prison and dealt with under the prison adjudication process in each year from 2007 to 2011 (latest available). Drug offences are a subset of these offences and data have been provided for 2007-09, but this more detailed breakdown is not available for 2010 and 2011 due to data quality issues.
	These figures count the number of offences, not the number of individuals; one prisoner may be responsible for more than one offence. Drug offences comprise categories, ‘unauthorised use of a controlled drug’, ‘possession of a controlled drug’, ‘sells/delivers drugs to any person’, ‘administers any controlled drug’ and ‘receives drugs during a visit’.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Total number of proven unauthorised transactions/possession offences—England and Wales 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010(1) 2011(1) 
			 Proven adjudication offences(2)      
			 All unauthorised transactions/possessions offences 28,858 30,427 28,996 23,807 22,557 
			 Of which:      
			 Drug offences: 9,780 9,413 8,000 — — 
			 Unauthorised use of a controlled drug 7,827 7,691 6,480 — — 
			 Possession of a controlled drug 1,292 1,074 1,048 — — 
			 Sells/delivers drugs to any person 20 25 10 — — 
			 Administers any controlled drug 25 57 71 — — 
			 Receives drugs during a visit 616 566 392 — — 
			 (1) Data quality issues introduced as a result of changes to prison recording systems for adjudications prevent a more detailed breakdown of offence type in 2010 and 2011. (2) Data relate to the number of offences punished, not the number of offenders, ie an offender may have committed more than one offence and will be counted more than once within each total. Source: Offender Management Statistics 2007 to 2011. Data Sources and Quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figures may not be accurate to that level. See Technical appendix of report for fuller information.

Redundancy

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many civil service posts have been made redundant by his Department in each year since 1999; and what the cost of redundancies has been in each such year;
	(2)  how many posts have been declared redundant by each of his Department's executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1999; and what the cost of those redundancies has been.

Helen Grant: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was formed in 2007. Therefore the Department only holds records for the period from 2007.
	The Department collects information on the number of people made compulsorily redundant rather than the number of redundant posts.
	In 2007-08 and 2008-09, there were no compulsory redundancies.
	In 2009-10, 26 people from across the Ministry of Justice, comprising headquarters and Executive agencies (HM Courts Service, the National Offender Management Service, the Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) were made compulsorily redundant or faced compulsory severance. The overall cost was £1.65 million.
	In 2010-11, there were no compulsory redundancies.
	In 2011-12, seven people from across the Ministry of Justice, comprising headquarters and Executive agencies (HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the National Offender Management Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) were made compulsorily redundant or faced compulsory severance. The overall cost was around £296,000.
	(b) The Department has only shown information relating to compensation payments in non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) in annual reports from 2010-11. Therefore this information is only available from this period.
	To provide it for previous years could be made available only at disproportionate cost.
	In 2010-11,49 people from the Department’s NDPBs were made compulsorily redundant. The overall cost was around £1.4 million.
	In 2011-12, 37 people from the Department’s NDPBs were made compulsorily redundant. The overall cost was around £840,000.

Young Offenders

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people under the age of 18 have committed a first offence in each region in each month since May 2005; and how many such people were convicted of each offence in each region.

Jeremy Wright: The following tables shows the number of people under the age of 18 who have committed a first offence in each region in each month since May 2005, and how many such people were convicted of each offence in each region. Table 2 shows the total number of convictions for the proven offences shown in table 1 by region, year and month. The difference in each total represents the number of cautions given.
	These figures are derived from the data used to produce Table 7.2 in “Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to March 2012” which was last published on 13 September 2012. The link to the report is found at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/criminal-justice-stats-march-2012.pdf
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			 Table 1: All proven first offences of under 18 year olds by region, May 2005 to June 2012, England and Wales 
			 Police region  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 
			 East Midlands 2005 — — — — 757 763 818 737 663 704 798 768 
			 East Midlands 2006 790 714 776 733 900 728 754 708 628 729 763 767 
			 East Midlands 2007 749 687 689 642 733 671 689 606 606 628 651 542 
			 East Midlands 2008 547 538 565 564 530 513 537 452 405 472 503 457 
			 East Midlands 2009 430 451 490 464 388 433 426 397 365 346 404 359 
			 East Midlands 2010 334 369 407 383 377 359 410 351 374 346 354 296 
			 East Midlands 2011 315 304 341 332 346 321 318 301 298 295 272 251 
			 East Midlands 2012 226 265 238 237 250 211 — — — — — — 
			 Eastern 2005 — — — — 917 893 943 905 809 933 874 796 
			 Eastern 2006 855 852 855 866 955 1,012 920 970 806 1,029 919 854 
			 Eastern 2007 931 877 1,045 1,021 1,049 977 1,097 973 744 835 833 782 
			 Eastern 2008 805 803 788 850 833 842 923 698 660 789 687 664 
			 Eastern 2009 546 689 755 781 796 715 814 640 613 640 541 512 
			 Eastern 2010 448 453 516 590 529 471 502 442 442 504 414 363 
			 Eastern 2011 342 351 404 352 395 379 421 342 309 368 347 302 
			 Eastern 2012 265 255 284 240 263 223 — — — — — — 
			 London 2005 — — — — 886 956 871 796 727 915 936 882 
			 London 2006 934 927 1,017 940 1,037 1,010 990 948 888 1,057 1,090 998 
			 London 2007 1,068 1,090 1,188 1,012 1,154 1,069 1,118 839 879 958 868 729 
			 London 2008 847 968 878 974 890 952 1,014 792 767 922 820 750 
			 London 2009 770 751 890 789 857 821 843 597 612 636 606 496 
			 London 2010 559 567 700 612 559 565 596 531 543 502 527 412 
			 London 2011 426 456 531 424 499 506 497 501 428 394 425 334 
			 London 2012 413 440 390 325 328 320 — — — — — — 
			 North East 2005 — — — — 620 598 560 562 524 599 579 493 
			 North East 2006 606 527 624 628 694 572 590 645 567 628 666 574 
			 North East 2007 716 534 654 701 805 613 678 633 433 573 506 438 
			 North East 2008 520 482 524 569 525 500 517 414 363 402 390 328 
			 North East 2009 355 371 446 454 400 390 368 291 270 252 214 227 
			 North East 2010 185 188 245 215 191 211 199 161 168 201 197 166 
			 North East 2011 164 142 187 158 193 207 198 176 167 183 175 151 
			 North East 2012 147 160 154 167 159 135 — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 North West 2005 — — — — 1,375 1,474 1,253 1,209 1,087 1,324 1,259 1,107 
			 North West 2006 1,090 1,097 1,282 1,295 1,296 1,216 1,205 1,176 1,075 1,331 1,204 1,055 
			 North West 2007 1,093 1,089 1,337 1,176 1,240 1,170 1,230 1,218 1,041 1,230 1,116 862 
			 North West 2008 884 971 1,041 1,051 995 1,033 1,049 835 844 895 822 654 
			 North West 2009 697 710 794 734 782 777 806 690 712 618 601 510 
			 North West 2010 528 618 620 645 595 636 574 486 463 484 437 360 
			 North West 2011 402 395 429 395 405 460 473 431 355 357 400 340 
			 North West 2012 306 259 315 285 312 291 — — — — — — 
			 South East 2005 — — — — 1,433 1,490 1,385 1,380 1,117 1,246 1,369 1,244 
			 South East 2006 1,122 1,156 1,347 1,258 1,410 1,305 1,397 1,215 1,113 1,248 1,423 1,183 
			 South East 2007 1,344 1,222 1,349 1,272 1,437 1,422 1,498 1,265 1,145 1,202 1,214 1,029 
			 South East 2008 1,006 1,027 1,120 1,134 1,083 1,049 1,133 993 842 1,001 908 844 
			 South East 2009 866 878 915 922 947 970 976 854 800 789 752 681 
			 South East 2010 560 648 705 593 617 636 657 611 581 638 548 436 
			 South East 2011 461 423 478 458 387 446 413 470 389 382 358 339 
			 South East 2012 314 336 361 312 336 309 — — — — — — 
			 South West 2005 — — — — 769 801 760 821 707 753 817 785 
			 South West 2006 740 728 882 767 798 769 781 791 672 851 790 774 
			 South West 2007 781 737 766 759 831 825 843 734 635 734 626 533 
			 South West 2008 596 670 668 712 622 582 604 586 535 565 496 436 
			 South West 2009 451 408 480 445 454 462 512 405 394 391 393 316 
			 South West 2010 293 301 410 336 374 392 438 325 329 404 328 227 
			 South West 2011 292 284 299 294 293 363 323 303 281 290 279 228 
			 South West 2012 247 233 240 246 253 209 — — — — — — 
			 Wales 2005 — — — — 488 487 484 425 427 497 479 448 
			 Wales 2006 417 423 511 493 494 508 539 505 440 567 487 456 
			 Wales 2007 423 442 486 450 515 476 526 490 456 536 453 369 
			 Wales 2008 457 398 474 485 470 467 500 430 423 446 439 365 
			 Wales 2009 344 365 448 419 399 406 461 370 314 372 338 252 
			 Wales 2010 238 246 282 268 284 279 251 232 242 264 268 152 
			 Wales 2011 171 178 193 169 184 179 196 182 191 159 163 122 
			 Wales 2012 143 143 141 131 147 141 — — — — — — 
			 West Midlands 2005 — — — — 982 1,071 1,056 943 891 1,013 978 857 
			 West Midlands 2006 869 929 1,059 1,096 1,096 1,045 959 947 908 1,161 1,096 933 
			 West Midlands 2007 971 876 1,208 987 1,167 1,068 1,020 895 798 816 819 661 
			 West Midlands 2008 670 762 834 735 668 669 683 583 573 661 542 523 
			 West Midlands 2009 552 516 650 556 496 440 457 359 403 442 398 349 
			 West Midlands 2010 345 356 406 318 344 354 339 315 299 270 312 234 
			 West Midlands 2011 260 269 282 284 315 302 291 287 256 259 264 243 
			 West Midlands 2012 240 173 251 227 252 195 — — — — — — 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2005 — — — — 1,096 1,020 1,051 993 884 1,160 1,189 1,041 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2006 903 965 1,154 1,120 1,081 1,086 1,011 951 853 1,142 1,146 1,080 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2007 1,009 1,023 1,197 1,122 1,092 1,000 1,035 941 726 906 800 775 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2008 721 830 831 799 746 704 746 669 649 694 669 627 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2009 572 596 687 677 759 693 637 501 481 462 459 431 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2010 344 387 454 370 376 378 371 332 326 372 354 255 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2011 280 264 306 336 328 342 341 298 263 301 244 227 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2012 232 223 231 233 233 220 — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: All convictions of first time offenders under 18 years of age by crime and region, May 2005 to June 2012, England and Wales 
			 Police region  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 
			 East Midlands 2005 — — — — 73 74 77 65 77 63 76 57 
			 East Midlands 2006 68 40 57 42 71 64 61 63 46 65 47 52 
			 East Midlands 2007 60 59 49 34 63 64 47 56 50 72 56 29 
			 East Midlands 2008 50 49 43 49 46 32 51 41 42 37 23 39 
			 East Midlands 2009 48 44 29 43 28 33 41 33 63 41 54 41 
			 East Midlands 2010 35 38 53 45 33 33 48 41 42 35 36 24 
			 East Midlands 2011 38 37 45 22 33 41 25 38 40 41 42 38 
		
	
	
		
			 East Midlands 2012 28 29 32 34 51 18 — — — — — — 
			 Eastern 2005 — — — — 80 98 87 88 98 80 88 56 
			 Eastern 2006 88 84 91 68 63 72 67 89 69 73 77 48 
			 Eastern 2007 74 63 64 75 59 68 74 51 42 60 64 49 
			 Eastern 2008 59 44 42 72 45 50 73 49 51 49 44 51 
			 Eastern 2009 46 65 49 37 41 56 54 33 63 52 36 24 
			 Eastern 2010 28 56 44 45 43 54 38 43 51 48 47 44 
			 Eastern 2011 35 40 47 49 33 61 35 35 55 34 39 29 
			 Eastern 2012 36 40 41 25 43 33 — — — — — — 
			 London 2005 — — — — 169 190 126 139 182 169 200 138 
			 London 2006 184 158 197 174 183 194 166 201 172 164 200 159 
			 London 2007 192 170 206 188 219 165 195 166 194 203 164 151 
			 London 2008 196 194 165 174 159 206 212 174 190 181 162 132 
			 London 2009 177 148 184 183 148 178 217 145 185 198 142 125 
			 London 2010 173 157 190 204 206 181 201 174 219 162 211 151 
			 London 2011 196 187 235 167 229 224 210 257 233 204 217 170 
			 London 2012 210 212 208 171 173 145 — — — — — — 
			 North East 2005 — — — — 47 35 33 39 42 40 41 19 
			 North East 2006 45 25 46 38 36 26 29 41 45 43 38 32 
			 North East 2007 32 32 46 20 44 22 24 31 25 37 29 29 
			 North East 2008 24 26 27 40 26 27 28 23 33 31 18 15 
			 North East 2009 34 18 18 19 16 21 22 10 26 20 25 24 
			 North East 2010 20 28 18 24 14 24 25 24 14 26 24 17 
			 North East 2011 17 25 22 12 19 17 33 16 31 16 21 19 
			 North East 2012 20 22 17 19 9 9 — — — — — — 
			 North West 2005 — — — — 138 142 133 178 162 149 174 117 
			 North West 2006 159 135 145 127 136 122 135 116 115 141 150 117 
			 North West 2007 111 113 179 129 146 132 145 144 112 145 165 99 
			 North West 2008 116 114 109 130 93 109 118 80 118 103 99 76 
			 North West 2009 106 76 77 88 73 99 110 102 101 80 98 88 
			 North West 2010 83 72 80 112 85 86 89 74 74 103 79 63 
			 North West 2011 69 67 82 70 56 70 80 90 73 76 95 66 
			 North West 2012 65 54 63 53 61 47 — — — — — — 
			 South East 2005 — — — — 82 57 72 74 74 95 95 72 
			 South East 2006 73 61 76 59 88 69 65 76 84 83 72 51 
			 South East 2007 83 74 67 61 65 58 82 89 84 78 86 60 
			 South East 2008 94 65 66 72 59 61 87 71 72 85 67 58 
			 South East 2009 75 62 56 60 56 74 63 71 54 61 63 70 
			 South East 2010 59 68 80 65 59 56 61 69 68 71 60 48 
			 South East 2011 50 40 57 67 46 63 53 62 68 60 46 53 
			 South East 2012 51 49 51 38 43 55 — — — — — — 
			 South West 2005 — — — — 43 60 40 75 50 41 60 37 
			 South West 2006 58 52 60 34 57 49 50 46 42 39 36 42 
			 South West 2007 49 42 42 38 42 37 38 42 37 56 34 28 
			 South West 2008 53 46 31 41 46 37 40 32 37 37 39 49 
			 South West 2009 43 30 25 25 30 42 45 30 44 24 23 45 
			 South West 2010 28 19 31 30 32 35 28 20 29 32 37 20 
			 South West 2011 42 30 22 13 24 26 25 25 27 28 21 22 
			 South West 2012 21 27 14 17 31 16 — — — — — — 
			 Wales 2005 — — — — 41 33 35 26 39 38 21 28 
			 Wales 2006 34 25 54 38 30 29 40 44 38 48 42 36 
			 Wales 2007 34 54 35 28 33 34 35 39 38 32 37 19 
			 Wales 2008 49 49 47 44 30 41 41 34 37 29 30 31 
			 Wales 2009 31 26 37 30 20 41 39 29 39 47 28 33 
			 Wales 2010 24 35 35 32 22 44 36 31 39 33 33 16 
			 Wales 2011 23 24 33 22 26 29 28 37 38 16 27 16 
			 Wales 2012 31 28 19 17 22 17 — — — — — — 
			 West Midlands 2005 — — — — 77 94 96 71 89 78 101 60 
			 West Midlands 2006 80 95 94 64 73 101 68 61 80 77 81 50 
			 West Midlands 2007 92 62 75 60 69 66 96 86 82 74 67 43 
			 West Midlands 2008 61 64 53 73 45 67 66 61 77 68 59 66 
			 West Midlands 2009 87 53 68 73 67 74 72 42 74 51 53 50 
			 West Midlands 2010 68 57 68 50 54 60 48 66 62 49 58 56 
			 West Midlands 2011 39 51 64 49 71 63 56 71 85 63 72 67 
		
	
	
		
			 West Midlands 2012 70 49 59 52 65 54 — — — — — — 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2005 — — — — 62 75 74 65 93 86 78 56 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2006 65 60 69 43 55 67 54 72 73 59 59 63 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2007 51 61 58 75 66 55 55 53 61 78 55 45 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2008 63 51 42 56 40 44 57 47 60 49 40 54 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2009 41 41 51 56 52 62 65 51 53 57 53 51 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2010 31 39 58 45 52 50 53 42 57 54 66 38 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2011 38 45 52 55 26 47 53 49 51 39 41 44 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2012 36 39 43 36 34 25 — — — — — —

TREASURY

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the potential annual change in receipts to the Exchequer attributable to a minimum unit price for alcoholic drinks fixed at (a) 45 pence, (b) 50 pence and (c) 55 pence.

Sajid Javid: The Government is currently consulting on the introduction of a minimum unit price of 45p.
	The Government also published a consultation stage impact assessment which sets out the impact of a 45p minimum unit price on a range of factors—this is available on the Home Office website.

Banks: Loans

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the funding for lending scheme on bank lending to businesses in the hospitality sector.

Greg Clark: The Funding for Lending Scheme targets the non-financial economy as a whole by providing lower cost funding to banks linked to strong incentives to increase lending. It will take time for the impact to be fully reflected in lending data as it takes time for loans or mortgages to be approved and processed. The data published on 3 December showing an increase in lending and several banks have introduced a number of new and discounted Funding for Lending Scheme products for SMEs.

Banks: Loans

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the funding for lending scheme on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Greg Clark: The funding for lending scheme targets the non-financial economy as a whole, which includes small and medium-sized enterprises, by providing lower cost funding to banks linked to strong incentives to increase lending. It will take time for the impact to be fully reflected in lending data as it takes time for loans or mortgages to be approved and processed. The data published on 3 December showed an increase in lending and several banks have introduced a number of new and discounted funding for lending scheme products for SMEs.

Child Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in each parliamentary constituency have been moved into the highest rate tax bracket as a result of changes to child benefit eligibility, as announced in the 2012 Budget Statement.

David Gauke: No individuals have become subject to the additional rate of income tax as a result of the introduction of the high income child benefit charge. The charge does not change the rate of income tax that an individual pays.

Child Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the marginal rate of tax will be after the introduction of changes to child benefit for families with an annual income of £50,000 who have (a) one child, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five and (f) six children.

David Gauke: A typical individual with an annual income of £50,000 would have a marginal rate of tax of 40% or less after the introduction of the high income child benefit charge independent of the number of children.

Child Benefit

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost of child benefit was in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The following table details the information requested for the most recent five years. This is taken from HMRC tax and NIC's receipts tables, which can be found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/receipts.htm
	
		
			  Total spend (£ million) 
			 2007-08 10,603 
			 2008-09 11,262 
			 2009-10 11,824 
			 2010-11 12,160 
			 2011-12 12,177

Child Benefit

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of households affected by his planned changes to child benefit due to commence on 7 January 2013; and how much he estimates will be withdrawn from such households.

David Gauke: An estimate has been made of the number of people affected by the high income child benefit charge in 2013-14. This information was provided in response to parliamentary question number 125984 on 6 November 2012, Official Report, column 575W:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121106/text/121106w0003.htm#121106117004094
	The fiscal savings as a result of the high income child benefit charge are around £1.7 billion each year. This was set out at Budget 2012, with reference to spending review 2010 when the initial policy was announced.

Child Benefit

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each parliamentary constituency have notified HM Revenue and Customs that they wish to stop receiving child benefit rather than pay the high income child benefit charge to date.

David Gauke: This information is not available at the parliamentary constituency level.

Child Benefit: EU Nationals

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was of child benefit paid to non-UK EU citizens in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The information requested is not available. Nationality is not a condition of entitlement to child benefit.

Child Benefit: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of households in Hartlepool constituency which will be affected by his planned changes to child benefit due to commence on 7 January 2013; and how much he estimates will be withdrawn from such households.

David Gauke: Information on the number of individuals affected by the high income child benefit charge and the savings from the introduction of the charge are not available on a constituency basis.

Corporation Tax

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce the number of loopholes in the tax system so that larger corporations pay higher amounts of tax.

David Gauke: In December's' autumn statement the Government closed down three corporation tax avoidance schemes aimed at large companies, and thus protected hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue.
	Since that time, we have also closed down a loophole that sought to exploit tax rules to generate artificial loss relief from a property business. To underscore the Government's commitment to tackling tax avoidance, on 3 December 2012, we announced a further investment of £77 million in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to expand its anti-avoidance and evasion activity, specifically focusing on offshore evasion and avoidance by wealthy individuals and multinationals. This is expected to bring in an additional £2 billion in tax, per year, that would have otherwise gone unpaid. As part of this investment, HMRC will expand its risk assessment capability across the large business sector and increase its specialist transfer pricing resources to speed up its work to identify and challenge the transfer pricing arrangements of multinationals.
	Following the Chancellor's call for international co-operation to strengthen international tax standards, the UK, Germany and France have pledged resources to the OECD to speed up work to tackle profit-shifting and base erosion at the global level.

Economic Growth

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what comparative assessment he has made of economic growth in (a) the UK, (b) the US and (c) Germany in the last two years.

Sajid Javid: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts; however they do not currently make comparative forecasts at this level of country detail. UK GDP grew by 1.8% in 2010, compared to 4.2% in Germany and 2.4% in the US. Output then slowed to 0.9% in 2011 in the UK, compared to 3.0% in Germany and 1.8% in the US. In 2012 the IMF forecast UK GDP to contract by 0.4% compared to growth of 0.9% in Germany and 2.2% in the US. However, from 2013 and in each year to 2017, the IMF expects the UK to grow faster than Germany.

Financial Services: Regulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken to ensure the Financial Conduct Authority will be a strong, open and proactive regulator of the financial services sector.

Greg Clark: The Financial Services Act 2012 establishes the Financial Conduct Authority, and it will begin operating on 1 April 2013. The new regulator will be proactive in tackling consumer detriment and securing better outcomes for consumers in financial services. To support this approach, the Government has given the FCA a number of new powers, including the ability to ban or place restrictions on products, and powers enabling increased regulatory transparency and disclosure.

Flood Control

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any Barnett consequentials will be received by each devolved administration as a result of increased expenditure on flood risk management in each of the next three years.

Danny Alexander: The autumn statement announced an additional £120 million allocation to DEFRA for flood risk management. The Barnett formula was applied in the normal way and the devolved Administrations received Barnett consequential totalling £23 million.

Food Banks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the name and location is of each food bank that he or Ministers of his Department have visited since May 2010; and what the date was of each visit.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers' official duties entail visits throughout the United Kingdom. As was the case with previous Administrations it is not normal practice to disclose details of all such visits.
	The Government has protected poor and vulnerable groups as far as possible while undertaking the urgent task of tackling the fiscal deficit.
	Work remains the best and most immediate way out of poverty and we have continued to prioritise providing the best possible work incentives through welfare reform and increasing the personal allowance.
	Education is the most effective route out of poverty for the next generation. Autumn statement 2012 announced an additional £980 million investment in schools in England by the end of this Parliament.

Gift Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Gift Aid has been claimed on donations made to the British Friends of Ariel in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: I am unable to answer the question because HM Revenue and Customs is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality in relation to customer information.
	HM Revenue and Customs may not disclose customer information outside the Department without the permission of the customer, except where there is specific legislation permitting the disclosure.

Gift Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action the Government could take against an organisation registered for Gift Aid that gives false or incomplete information about the countries in which it operates.

Sajid Javid: Charities that are eligible to UK charity tax reliefs are generally not liable to pay tax on their income and gains provided they apply the income and gains for wholly charitable purposes. Charities may apply their income and gains for charitable purposes outside the UK. The purposes must be charitable under the law of England and Wales and the charity must be able to satisfy HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that the charity has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the payment will be applied for charitable purposes only.
	If a charity applies its income or gains for non-charitable purposes, then tax relief will not be due and a charge to tax may arise.
	If an organisation claims tax relief having provided HMRC with false or incomplete information about its tax liabilities then, in addition to requiring the charity to pay any tax and interest due, HMRC may impose a financial penalty. HMRC may take criminal proceedings in the most serious cases.

Government Departments: Buildings

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 691W, on Government departments: Scotland, if he will assess the potential benefits of holding a central list of all Government-owned buildings.

Chloe Smith: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	A central database of Government Central Civil Estate properties and land across the UK already exists, which records the location of property, along with the associated information such as landlord, lease details and usage.
	A subset of data from this is published on
	www.data.gov.uk
	on a quarterly basis. The data published include details of the location, tenure, and other key attributes for each asset.

Income Tax

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the working population paid income tax at a rate above the personal allowance in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2009-10; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of the working population who will pay income tax at a rate above the personal allowance in 2013-14.

David Gauke: The proportion of the working population in employment/self-employment with employment income above the personal allowance is estimated to be as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 1996-97 0.86 
			 2009-10 0.86 
		
	
	The equivalent proportion in 2013-14 is estimated to be 0.80%.
	As a result of all of the changes to the personal allowance made by this Government, 2.2 million under 65s have been taken out of tax in 2013-14.
	These estimates are based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) in 1996-97, 2009-10 and FRS data for 2010-11 projected to 2013-14 with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's December 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.

Income Tax

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of reintroducing an income tax rate of 10p on all earnings between £9,205 and £12,000 from financial year 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The autumn statement announced that the income tax personal allowance for 2013-14 will be increased to £9,440. This supersedes the Budget 2012 announcement that it would be increased to £9,205.
	The cost to the Exchequer of reintroducing an income tax rate of 10p on all earnings between £9,440 and £12,230 (i.e., in the same band as the starting rate for savings) is estimated to be around £7.3 billion in 2013-14.
	This estimate is based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2013-14 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's December 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.

LIBOR

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will take steps in conjunction with the Financial Services Authority to introduce new safeguards to ensure data processing and the administration of LIBOR financial information is robust and transparent;
	(2)  if he will hold discussions with the Financial Services Authority and the British Bankers Association on steps to ensure that future LIBOR data is processed and recorded accurately by financial data processing companies;
	(3)  whether he had discussions with the British Bankers Association on the processing of LIBOR data prior to LIBOR investigation by the Financial Services Authority.

Greg Clark: In September, the Government received Martin Wheatley's review into the LIBOR-setting process and accepted all its recommendations.
	Mr Wheatley recommended that the submission to, and the administration of, LIBOR, should become regulated activities. The Financial Services Act 2012 makes this possible and a consultation on the precise activities to become regulated has recently completed.(1) In parallel, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is consulting on the design of a supervisory regime for administrators of benchmarks, such as LIBOR.(2)
	The Government believes these measures—alongside the market-led reforms outlined in the Wheatley Review—are necessary to restore and maintain public confidence in LIBOR.
	Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of authorities as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
	(1 )For more information see:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/implementing_wheatley_review281112.pdf
	(2) For more information see:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/cp/cp12-36.pdf

Mutual Societies

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to encourage new mutually-owned entrants in the financial services sector.

Greg Clark: As set out in the coalition agreement, the Government is committed to promote mutuals and foster diversity in financial services. The Co-operatives Consolidation Bill and the Credit Union Expansion Project help to create a supportive environment for both new and existing mutuals and the Verde divestment agreement between Lloyds and Co-op, when completed, will create a genuine mutually owned challenger to the major banks.
	The Government announced in June that the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England would review the prudential and conduct requirements for new entrants to the banking sector. This is intended to take positive action to remove barriers to entry and expansion in banking, and encourage both mutual and non-mutual new entrants.

National Insurance Contributions

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Exchequer received in respect of employer and employee national insurance contributions in England in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

David Gauke: The estimated amount of Class 1 national insurance contributions paid in England was:
	(a) £33.4 billion by employees and £48.3 billion by employers, in 2009-10;
	(b) £33.9 billion by employees and £48.6 billion by employers/in 2010-11.
	Figures for 2011-12 are not available.
	Estimates are based on a 1% sample of pay as you earn (PAYE) data. The sample is based on accruals data; it relies upon P14 forms completed by employers at the end of each tax year and may differ from receipts figures that may be available from other sources.

Occupied Territories

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief applied for via Gift Aid was received by organisations funding projects in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs does not record types of charity for Gift Aid claims, or have detailed information about the expenditure incurred by charities. Therefore the information requested on the value of tax reliefs received by organisations funding projects in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Poverty: Children

Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the effect on child poverty measured as the number of children living in households falling below 60% of median income before housing costs was of his announcement in the Budget 2012 that the Government would (a) increase the personal tax allowance by £1,100 in 2013-14, (b) introduce a taper on child benefit for individuals earning between £50,000 and £60,000 per annum, (c) reduce housing benefit payments to those deemed to be under-occupying their property from April 2013, (d) freeze local housing allowance rates for one year from 2012, (e) implement the household benefit cap from 2013 with exemptions for nine months for those previously employed for a 12-month period and (f) allow couples in which one partner claims carer's allowance to qualify for working tax credit when one partner works at least 16 hours a week.

David Gauke: The information requested is not available in the form requested.
	The Budget 2012 document sets out the analysis that was undertaken by HM Treasury for this fiscal event, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_documents.htm
	HM Treasury did not undertake analysis of the specific measures included in Budget 2012 on child poverty. This analysis could be provided only at a disproportional cost to the Department.
	The Government believes that looking at income in isolation is not a helpful measure to track progress towards its target of eradicating child poverty.
	The Government is currently consulting on better measures of child poverty to inform its approach to eradicate child poverty—tackling its root causes, providing high-quality education, and helping people into work through universal credit.

Poverty: Children

Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the effect on child poverty measured as the number of children living in households falling below 60 per cent of median income before housing costs was of his announcement in the autumn statement 2012 that (a) the personal tax allowance will rise to £9,440 in 2012-13 and (b) the uprating by one per cent for three years from 2013-14 of the main elements of (i) jobseeker's allowance, (ii) employment and support allowance (ESA), (iii) income support, (iv) applicable amounts for housing benefit, (v) maternity allowance, (vi) statutory sick pay, (vii) statutory maternity pay, (viii) statutory paternity pay, (ix) statutory adoption pay, (x) the couple and lone parent elements of working tax credits and (xi) the child element of child tax credits.

David Gauke: The information requested is not available in the form requested.
	The autumn statement 2012 document sets out the analysis that was undertaken by HM Treasury for this fiscal event, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2012_documents.htm
	HM Treasury did not undertake analysis of the specific measures included in autumn statement 2012 on child poverty. This analysis could be provided only at a disproportional cost to the Department.
	The Government believes looking at income in isolation is not a helpful measure to track progress towards its target of eradicating child poverty.
	The Government is currently consulting on better measures of child poverty to inform its approach to eradicate child poverty—tackling its root causes, providing high-quality education, and helping people into work through universal credit.

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many research contracts commissioned by his Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Sajid Javid: HMT holds central records of contracts awarded (including those not subject to a competitive tendering process) with a value of £10,000 (excluding VAT) and over. All HMT contracts for research services in the period requested were subject to a competitive tendering process.
	There may be contracts awarded below £10,000 during this period (including those not subject to a competitive tendering process) but to review this information in detail would be at a disproportionate cost.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any Barnett consequentials will be received by each devolved administration as a result of increased expenditure on the pupil premium in each of the next three years.

Danny Alexander: The Department for Education's budgets for the pupil premium for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 were set in the 2010 spending review, and the Barnett formula was applied in the normal way.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs staff who administer tax credits in call centres will transfer to the Department for Work and Pensions under the TUPE rules, if their centre is selected for the delivery of universal credit.

David Gauke: Movement of staff between central Government Departments does not involve a change in employer so TUPE regulations cannot apply. However, relevant staff working in HM Revenue and Customs sites selected to become UC service centres will move to DWP under existing civil service policies that allow the transfer of staff across Government Departments.

Tax Avoidance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Finance Act 2012, what steps his Department plans to take to discourage tax avoidance and the use of tax havens by Controlled Foreign Companies.

David Gauke: The new Controlled Foreign Companies (CFC) rules were introduced by Finance Act 2012 as part of the corporate tax roadmap and came into effect on 1 January 2013. The rules are anti avoidance provisions designed to prevent UK tax resident companies from artificially diverting their UK profits to controlled companies in low tax jurisdictions to reduce their UK tax bill. They work by charging UK tax on those profits and so act as a deterrent to this behaviour.
	Amendments to the CFC rules were announced on 11 December 2012 for inclusion in Finance Bill 2013, to counter one disclosed avoidance scheme along with other identified planning opportunities.

Tax Evasion

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for tax evasion in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: The term “investigation” can cover many types of interventions undertaken by HMRC. For instance any tax return submitted by a company can be looked at to ensure its accuracy, and HMRC engages with individuals and companies on their tax affairs on the telephone and by carrying out compliance visits. HMRC carries out hundreds of thousands of such interventions every year.
	The majority of tax evasion cases are dealt with using cost-effective civil settlement procedures.
	HMRC also has the power to investigate criminally those that seek to defraud the Exchequer, and it publishes its policy around when it will use this power.
	HMRC is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland (PPSNI).
	Along with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), HMRC and its prosecuting authority are legislatively able to pursue corporate offending. However, establishing guilty knowledge and securing convictions against companies is notoriously difficult. Therefore when HMRC undertakes a criminal investigation into a company for tax evasion with a view to prosecution, it will pursue the officers of the company for their actions on behalf of that company, rather than the company per se.
	Details of the total number of individuals prosecuted and convicted for tax offences are set out in the following table. These include offences in relation to both direct and indirect tax, excise, and tax credits.
	
		
			  Prosecutions Convictions 
			 2007-08 526 638 
			 2008-09 416 469 
			 2009-10 296 419 
			 2010-11 402 327 
			 2011-12 497 399 
		
	
	Prosecution and conviction figures in any given year do not necessarily relate to the same individuals due to timing and length of case. Prior to 2010-11, 'prosecution figures relate to cases as opposed to individuals.
	A breakdown of prosecutions and convictions for tax evasion between individuals and those related to companies is available only at disproportionate cost.

Taxation: Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the total amount of (a) UK corporation tax, (b) employers' national insurance contributions, (c) business rates paid and (d) employment taxes and environmental taxes collected in the UK by (i) Centrica, (ii) Electricite de France S.A., (iii) E.ON SE, (iv) Iberdrola, (v) RWE AG and (vi) Scottish and Southern Energy, net of any credits that may have been obtained against those UK tax liabilities for taxes paid outside of the UK in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs are unable to disclose the amount of tax collected in the UK by (i) Centrica, (ii) Electricite de France S.A., (iii) E.ON SE, (iv) Iberdrola. (v) RWE AG and (vi) Scottish and Southern Energy. To do so would be a breach of HM Revenue and Customs' duty of confidentiality.

Taxation: Public Houses

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much unpaid VAT or non-domestic rates was written off by the Insolvency Service on behalf of applicants who previously ran or operated public houses in each of the last five years.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There will be claims in respect of unpaid VAT and non-domestic rates in most insolvency proceedings involving the failure of public houses. The Insolvency Service does not hold records which would enable the data requested to be provided.

Welfare Tax Credits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households with a self-employed member claimed tax credits in the latest period for which figures are available; and for how many such households self-employment was the main source of income.

Sajid Javid: There were approximately 950,000 households in the UK declaring some self-employment income, who were in a positive tax credit award.
	Approximately 675,000 of these households earn the majority of their income (over 50%) from self-employment.
	These figures are based on the latest available finalised data for 2010-11.

Working Tax Credit: EU Nationals

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the Exchequer was of working tax credits paid to non-UK EU citizens of each nationality in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: The information requested is not available. Nationality is not a condition of entitlement to the child and working tax credits.
	Tax credits are intended to provide support to families with children in the UK and to those in low-paid work here. As a result, eligibility for tax credits depends on the claimants being present and ordinarily resident in the UK. In addition, child tax credit claimants must also have a right to reside in the UK.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Catering

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people have so far (a) started and (b) completed apprenticeships under the Asian Culinary Excellence initiative.

Matthew Hancock: The pilot to develop centres of excellence in Asian and Oriental cuisine is operated by the provider People 1st in partnership with the Hospitality Guild and funded by the Growth and Innovation Fund.
	The most current figures, in terms of engagement with the pilot, are as follows:
	413 registered interest in the pilot
	138 attended information and assessment sessions
	64 pre-employment starts
	38 completed pre-employment
	7 progressed to an apprenticeship
	13 work experience completed with a further 12 to be placed in January 2013
	The £1.75 million allocated funding to People 1st through the Growth Innovation Fund, approximately £250,000 is invested in the centres of excellence.

Aviation

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many air miles were accumulated by each Minister in his Department in 2012; how such air miles were used; and whether such air miles were donated to charity.

Jo Swinson: It is the policy within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) that frequent flyer benefits, including air miles obtained by spending public money and accumulated from official business travel, must not be used for private purposes.
	All official business travel within BIS must be booked using the central departmental travel provider. This provider has been instructed by the Department not to accumulate any type of frequent flyer benefits against travel ticket bookings made by any member of the Department including Ministers.

Business

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to The Coalition: Mid-Term Review, published on 7 January 2013, page 9, what the 11 specific sector strategies are that he intends to publish in the coming year; and when he intends each such strategy to be published.

Michael Fallon: We are committed to developing a long-term strategic partnership in the 11 key sectors as follows. Working with industry, we will produce a set of strategies that outline a long-term vision for each sector and an action plan for delivery. The timeline for publications is as follows:
	Sector strategy:
	Life Sciences—update published December 2012
	Aerospace—due to publish in early 2013
	Nuclear—due to publish in early 2013
	Oil and Gas—due to publish in early 2013
	Offshore Wind—due to publish in early 2013
	Agri-science—due to publish in spring 2013
	Education—due to publish in spring 2013
	Information Economy—due to publish in spring 2013
	Automotive—due to publish in spring 2013
	Construction—due to publish in summer 2013
	Professional business services—due to publish in summer 2013
	The analysis supporting the choice of 11 sectors is available in the following publication: BIS Economics Paper No. 18, “Industrial Strategy: UK Sector Analysis”, September 2012.
	Available at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/analysis/economics/main-economics-papers

Business

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to The Coalition: Mid-Term Review, published on 7 January 2013, page 10, when the catapult technology and innovation centres in cell therapies, the connected digital economy, future cities, high value manufacturing, offshore renewable energy, satellite applications and transport systems will be established; and where each such centre will be based.

David Willetts: The Technology Strategy Board continues to make good progress in establishing the network of catapult centres. The location (where announced) and date of establishment of the catapults are:
	
		
			 Catapult Location Date established/to be established(1) 
			 High Value Manufacturing 7 partner centres around the country, no central HQ Opened for business in October 2011 
			 Cell Therapy Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, London September 2012: Leadership team now in place 
			 Offshore Renewable Energy HQ in Glasgow with an operations centre at Narec in Blyth. December 2012: Leadership team now in place 
			 Satellite Applications Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxford January 2013: Leadership team now in place 
			 Connected Digital Economy London Target is February 2013: CEO now in place 
			 Future Cities To be announced Target is March 2013 to have leadership team in place 
			 Transport Systems To be announced Target is April 2013 to have leadership team in place 
		
	
	The Technology Strategy Board has adopted the following definition for when a new catapult centre becomes “operational” or “established”:
	The catapult is established as a legal entity with supervisory governance in place;
	The senior leadership team is in place;
	A grant funding agreement is in place;
	The initial work programme has been agreed; and
	Initial projects are agreed/underway (e.g. research, capital investment, demonstrators, commercial projects.)
	As with any far-sighted investment of this nature, there will be a significant period, potentially several years, in which the catapult centres, operating as an autonomous entities, continue to build their capability and commission new facilities.

Business: Advisory Services

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2012, Official Report, column 810W, on business finance, whether the mentors available to successful applicants under the Start Up Loans scheme (a) include in previous totals provided by his Department, (b) include those available through the MentorsMe web portal and (c) are distinct from those previously announced.

Michael Fallon: The previous totals of mentors provided by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills refer to the total number of mentors accessible via mentorsme, the national mentoring portal, which is funded and operated by the British bankers Association (BBA).
	The mentors available for successful applicants under the Start-Up Loans scheme come from a number of sources, including from mentoring organisations listed on the mentorsme portal. Some of these mentors will therefore have been included in our totals.
	In addition the Start-Up Loans scheme also recruits mentors directly and encourages potential mentors to sign up via the Start-Up Loans website.

Business: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many firms in each region (a) are taking part in, (b) were not found to be suitable for, (c) are still being assessed for and (d) are judged suitable but who are not yet taking part in the Growth Accelerator programme since its inception.

Michael Fallon: The numbers of companies involved in the Growth Accelerator programme by area, as of 9 January 2013, is set out in the following table. Although Growth Accelerator is delivered on a national basis, there is a lead contractor in each of four different areas of England; we have therefore set out the data requested against these delivery areas.
	
		
			 Area Lead contractor Currently taking part Not found to be suitable Being assessed Judge suitable but not yet taking part(1) 
			 London and Hertfordshire Grant Thornton 372 27 286 142 
			 Southwest and Southeast Oxford Innovation 495 54 340 124 
			 Midlands Pera 765 76 417 189 
			 North Winning Pitch 728 24 775 168 
			 Total  2,360 181 1,818 623 
			 (1) Some of these may still choose not to join it.

Business: Research

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to increase research and development expenditure by business enterprises.

David Willetts: The Government is encouraging the increase of research and development (R&D) expenditure by business through a range of measures, including R&D tax credits and the programmes delivered by the Technology Strategy Board.
	R&D tax credits are the single largest Government support for business investment in R&D. In the year ending March 2011 claims totalled £1.1 billion on expenditure of £10.9 billion.
	The rate of tax relief available through the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) R&D tax credit was raised to 225% from April 2012, making it among the most competitive regimes in the world, which is likely to further incentivise companies to invest in R&D. The Government believes that the Above the Line (ATL) credit being introduced on 1 April 2013 for large companies will be effective in influencing R&D investment decisions and help to increase the overall level of R&D activity in the UK.
	The Technology Strategy Board is the Government's prime channel for supporting business-led technology innovation. It delivers a range of programmes in support of businesses undertaking research and development including Collaborative R&D, Smart and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
	The Technology Strategy Board also provides opportunities for innovative businesses through the growing network of Catapult centres. Since June 2007 the Technology Strategy Board has provided £960 million in support for businesses across the UK ranging from pre start-up, start-up and early stage micro businesses, to large multi-nationals.
	In addition, we have taken a number of further actions which are likely to increase business expenditure on R&D including: the introduction of an Innovation Vouchers programme, additional support to help companies access venture capital, increased investment in the Small Business Research Initiative, and the new UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UK RPIF), which will secure over £1 billion support for the development of new research facilities and partnerships between universities, businesses and charities.

Business: Scotland

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many Scottish based applications made to the start-up loan scheme have been (a) received and (b) successful since May 2010;
	(2)  how many of the new businesses that have received assistance from the Start-Up Loans scheme are based in Scotland.

Michael Fallon: The Start-Up Loans scheme is England only and does not operate in Scotland.

Business: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been made under the start-up loans for young people programme in each month since the introduction of the programme; and what proportion of the total amount allocated to the programme was spent in each month.

Michael Fallon: The monthly breakdown of loans made under the Start-Up Loans scheme is as follows:
	
		
			 2012 Number 
			 September 24 
			 October 22 
			 November 258 
			 December 158 
			 Total 462 
		
	
	The actual monthly spend under the Start-Up Loans scheme is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 September 22,500 
			 October 47,700 
			 November 811,044 
			 December 729,765 
		
	
	This is in line with projections.

Business: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been made under the start-up loans for young people programme in each constituency since the introduction of the programme.

Michael Fallon: We do not collect or hold data by constituency. Start-Up Loans are available across England. A breakdown by region (as of 3 January 2013) is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 East Midlands 5 
			 East of England 3 
			 Greater London 34 
			 North East England 3 
		
	
	
		
			 North West 9 
			 South East 19 
			 South West 7 
			 West Midlands 14 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 6

Comet Group

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects the Insolvency Service to have completed its report on Comet; and what timetable he has set for this process.

Jo Swinson: The investigation is still at a very early stage. It would be premature to set a rigid end date, and to do so might restrict the depth and thoroughness of the inquiry. However, the Insolvency Service aims to complete the vast majority of this type of investigation within six months and intends to report on findings and progress to the Secretary of State within that time scale.

Comet Group

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what information he plans to make available to the public following the Insolvency Service report on Comet; and what discussions and meetings he and officials in his Department have had with external parties on this matter.

Jo Swinson: The Insolvency Service's fact-finding inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the insolvency of Comet Group Ltd is being conducted under section 447 of the Companies Act, and publication of the findings of this type of investigation is prohibited under law.
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not discussed the inquiry with any external parties, and it would not be appropriate to do so while the inquiry is ongoing. The Insolvency Service will not be disclosing what meetings officials have held with external parties because to do so could seriously compromise the ongoing investigation.

Credit: Interest Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of payday loan shops in each parliamentary constituency.

Jo Swinson: Government is not aware of any estimate of the number of payday loan shops in each parliamentary constituency. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) set out in the interim report of their ongoing compliance review of payday lenders that they were aware of around 240 payday lenders. While some of these lenders operate exclusively online, of the remainder, I expect that some will be sole traders and some will be multiple traders.
	We are of course concerned with the evidence of problems with payday lending that consumers across constituency boundaries are experiencing. Government is therefore taking co-ordinated action to tackle detriment in this market, including agreeing revised voluntary codes with industry and the OFT's ongoing compliance review. We are also strengthening OFT enforcement powers with a new power to suspend a business' credit licence with immediate effect, or on a date specified by the OFT, where the OFT considers it is urgently necessary in order to protect the interests of consumers and prevent serious actual or potential consumer detriment. This power comes into effect next month.
	Further, we have announced our intention to transfer the regulation of consumer credit from the OFT to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 subject to the design of a proportionate regime and took powers in the Financial Services Act 2012 to do so. The FCA will have a diverse range of regulatory powers to address problems across all consumer credit markets, including being able to ban products or specific product features, levy fines and determine consumer redress.

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings Ministers and officials in his Department had with Deloitte in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jo Swinson: Details of BIS Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis at:
	www.bis.gov.uk/bisministerialdata
	Information about meetings between Deloitte and BIS officials is not held centrally, and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Engineering: Prizes

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to The Coalition: Mid-Term Review, published on 7 January 2013, page 10, what steps he plans to take to promote the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

David Willetts: BIS Ministers are taking every opportunity to promote the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, working with the Royal Academy of Engineering, and believe it has real potential to inspire future generations of engineers. Indeed the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) highlighted this prize in his keynote speech at the Confederation of British Industry's annual conference in November 2012.
	In addition, the Department's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor John Perkins—himself an eminent engineer—is working closely with the Royal Academy of Engineering and others to examine engineering workforce issues. BIS is also responsible for a range of activities designed to promote engineering and manufacturing as career opportunities. The See Inside Manufacturing campaign has done this by showing young people around some of the UK's leading industrial companies. Complementing this, we have programmes such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ambassadors, apprenticeship ambassadors, Make It in Great Britain and the very successful Big Bang Fair which this year involved 170 organisations with 56,000 people at the main event in Birmingham.

EU External Trade

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many free trade areas the EU has negotiated with non-EU countries; and how many such areas it is currently negotiating.

Michael Fallon: At present, the European Union (EU) has free trade agreements (FTA) with four countries, namely: Chile, South Africa, Mexico, and South Korea. As part of the wider European economic area, the EU has adopted FTAs with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.
	Negotiations with Central America (comprising El Salvador; Costa Rica; Guatemala; Nicaragua; Honduras and Panama), the Andean nations of Peru and Colombia, and Ukraine have been concluded, and will be ratified in due course.
	Negotiations are ongoing with nine individual countries or groups of countries, namely: Canada; India; Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay); Malaysia; Vietnam; Moldova; Georgia; Armenia; and the Gulf Co-operation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates).
	Political agreement on the FTA with Singapore was reached in December 2012 and we are confident that negotiations with Canada will be concluded in the coming months. The Government is supportive of negotiations starting in 2013 with Japan, Thailand and the USA.

Export Credit Guarantees: Argentina

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish details of the £45 million in debts owed to UK Export Finance by Argentina for mechanical goods; when UK Export Finance made loans to Argentina; to which individuals and organisations such loans were made; and what the purpose of those loans was.

Michael Fallon: It is not possible to provide details of individual export transactions, where such information exists, as this would incur disproportionate cost. UK Export Finance (UKEF) did not provide any loans. UKEF provides guarantees on loans made by banks to overseas buyers of UK exports and insurance to exporters against the risk of not being paid by an overseas buyer.

Exports

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value was of UK exports (a) within and (b) without the EU in each of the last 12 years.

Michael Fallon: The value of UK goods exports within the EU and outside the EU since 1998 can be found on the Office for National Statistics website at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?dataset=mret
	Data for goods and services exports can also be found in the Pink Book time series at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?dataset=pb
	The latest data (2011 data from the Pink Book 2012 table 9.3) shows that the UK exported £493 billion of goods and services, of which £234 billion was to the EU-27 and the remaining £259 billion to outside the EU-27. 2012 data is planned for release in July 2013.

London Metropolitan University

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what has been the total cost of establishing his Department's task force for international students at London Metropolitan University (LMU); how many students have been assisted by the task force; how many such students have been given leave to remain at LMU; and to which other higher education institutions students assisted by the task force have been sent.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced a support fund of up to £2 million to help London Metropolitan university international students who had reasonably incurred financial costs as a direct result of the UK Boarder Agency's (UKBA) decision to revoke the university's Tier 4 licence. Task force members (BIS, Higher Education Funding Council for England—HEFCE, UKBA, London Metropolitan university, Universities UK and National Union of Students) provided their time to oversee the work at no additional cost. The task force provided assistance in the form of advice, guidance and financial support, to all students affected by the revocation of the university's Tier 4 licence, whether they were already studying at the university or considering applying for the academic year 2012/13. Specifically, London Metropolitan university established a clearing house to help the university's overseas students find places with other higher education (HE) providers.
	The court order decision of 5 October 2012 allowed non-EEA students in the UK currently enrolled at London Metropolitan university, or with an offer of a place, and who already had a valid Tier 4 visa to study there, to complete their course, or complete the 2012/13 academic year ending in summer 2013, whichever was the sooner. A significant majority of London Metropolitan university overseas students continued their studies in 2012/13. On behalf of the task force, HEFCE has been administering a support fund to assist students who had experienced direct additional costs arising from the revocation. At 9 January 2013, HEFCE had made total payments of £682,000 to 352 students whose application for financial assistance from the support fund was successful. HEFCE continues to receive applications from students who believe they are experiencing an additional cost burden because of the revocation of London Metropolitan university's Tier 4 licence.
	Students assisted by the task force have found places at a range of higher education providers. 16 higher education institutions participated directly with the university's clearing house, which are listed as follows. However, providers from across the country provided assistance to place London Metropolitan university overseas students.
	Brunel University
	City University
	University of East London
	University of Greenwich
	London South Bank University
	Middlesex University
	Roehampton University
	University of West London
	Westminster University
	BPP University College
	College of Law
	Kingston University
	London School of Business and Finance
	ifs School of Finance
	Regent's College
	Information about the numbers of students given leave to remain is a matter for the UK Borders Agency.

London Metropolitan University

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much debt is currently owed by London Metropolitan university to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE); how much of the debt originally owed to HEFCE has been repaid; and what recent discussions have taken place with London Metropolitan university on the future rate of repayment of this debt.

David Willetts: London Metropolitan university is currently repaying to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) £36.5 million of overpaid grant incurred in previous years. The university has repaid £19.03 million to date. It is also due to repay £4 million of recoverable grant in 2014-15 as part of a Strategic Development Fund (SDF) project approved in December 2010.
	The University has been granted permission by HEFCE to reschedule repayments of the remaining £17.5 million from £7.5 million in 2012-13 and £10 million in 2013-14 as currently agreed, to £2.5 million starting in 2013-14 and ending in 2019-20. This decision has been made to allow London Metropolitan university greater financial flexibility following the revocation of its Tier 4 licence to recruit overseas students. HEFCE is considering a request from the University to convert the £4 million SDF recoverable grant to a non-repayable grant, to enable it to invest in its new strategic action plan.

Money Lenders: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce illegal money lending in Ashfield constituency; and what recent discussions his Department has had in this respect.

Jo Swinson: Until April 2012 BIS directly funded Trading Standards to take on complex cases which crossed individual local authority boundaries. This included setting up an Illegal Money Lending Team for England.
	On 1 April 2012, the Government published its response to the consultation on Empowering and Protecting Consumers, which set out the decision to establish a National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) for England and Wales. During 2012/13, the NTSB has continued to fund the delivery of the Illegal Money Lending Team in England, which includes the same level of protection in the East Midlands. The NTSB reports to BIS on progress on a quarterly basis, and BIS is represented on the NTSB.

Nuclear Power: Trade Promotion

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what financial support his Department is providing for the Civil Nuclear Energy Showcase in London on 5-6 February 2013, organised by UK Trade and Investment.

Michael Fallon: The budget for the UK Civil Nuclear Energy Showcase is £110,000: £60,000 from UK Trade and Investment's programme budget and £50,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to allow 22 commercial officers to accompany participating delegates from key overseas markets.

Overseas Trade

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps UK Trade and Investment is taking to assist UK companies in taking advantage of trade opportunities in brownfield management and remediation.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) pro-actively promotes the UK strengths and capability of the contaminated land and remediation (CLR) industry. Land remediation is part of the environment that is a priority sector in UKTI's “water and environment” export strategy. We assist UK companies through a programme of activities, which the CLR industry can take advantage of. This includes:
	participation at international exhibitions and conferences, supported through the UKTI Trade Access Programme;
	access to international buyers through “UKTI meet the buyer” events that are UK based;
	UK based country specific briefings at UK exhibitions and conferences;
	inward and outward trade missions to UKTI target markets;
	access to international markets via UKTI's Overseas Market Introduction Service;
	advice on developing meaningful export business plans through “Passport to Export” and “Gateway to Export”;
	pursuit of High Value Opportunities in target markets; and
	in consultation with the lead trade association Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CLAIRE), UKTI published “The UK Land Remediation Capability” document, used by UKTI to champion UK capability globally.

Overseas Trade: Germany

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of Germany's (a) most recent structural surplus in its trade with the UK and (b) structural surplus over each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon: The balance of trade (goods and services) between the UK and Germany is publicly available in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) “Pink Book 2012” publication. More timely data for goods only is available via the time series tool on the ONS website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?cdid=ENYW&dataset=mret&table-id=F2
	and shows the UK balance of trade with Germany is -£5,846 million in Quarter 3 2012.

Overseas Trade: Morocco

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the UK's £510 million exports to Morocco to November 2011 were to Western Sahara.

Michael Fallon: Overseas Trade Statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs do not currently differentiate between the countries/territories of Morocco and Western Sahara.
	Therefore it is not currently possible to give a value for UK exports to Western Sahara.
	New EU legislation (regulation 1106/2012) will mean that from 1 January 2013 Western Sahara will have its own geo-nomenclature code and so trade statistics will be collected from that point forward. The first months' results should be published in March this year.

Overseas Trade: Morocco

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the £381 million of imports from Morocco to the UK was from Western Sahara.

Michael Fallon: Overseas Trade Statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs do not currently differentiate between the countries/territories of Morocco and Western Sahara.
	Therefore it is not currently possible to give a value for UK imports from Western Sahara.
	New EU legislation (regulation 1106/2012) will mean that from 1 January 2013 Western Sahara will have its own geo-nomenclature code and so trade statistics will be collected from that point forward. The first months' results should be published in March this year.

Part-time Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of staff in his Department work part-time.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) employs 340 part-time staff, which equates to 11% of the overall BIS workforce. This figure is based as at 1 December 2012 and includes UK Trade and Investment.

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many research contracts commissioned by his Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jo Swinson: The number of research contracts commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for each of the requested years is as follows:
	
		
			  Contracts 
			 (a) 2010 (1)— 
			 (b) 2011 13 
			 (c) 2012 18 
			 (1 )No information available. 
		
	
	It is to be noted that each of these contracts was awarded through the Single Tender Action (STA) process.
	STAs are only allowed for a defined number of exceptional circumstances and is not a mechanism for avoiding a competitive process where such a process would prove possible or beneficial.

Research

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research his Department has undertaken to assess the relative merits of spending programmes in encouraging innovation and investment in research and development.

David Willetts: The Government encourages research and development (R&D) expenditure by business through a range of measures, including R&D tax credits and the programmes delivered by the Technology Strategy Board.
	R&D Tax Credits are the single largest Government support for business investment in R&D. In 2010 BIS and HMRC commissioned qualitative research into businesses' R&D decision-making process as part of the evaluation of R&D tax credits. This focused on how far it is possible to determine whether R&D tax credits and grants for R&D resulted in companies undertaking research that they would not otherwise have done.
	The Technology Strategy Board is the Government's prime channel for supporting business-led technology innovation. It delivers a range of programmes in support of businesses undertaking research and development including Collaborative R&D, Smart and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
	The Technology Strategy Board undertakes in-depth evaluations of each of its support programmes—an evaluation of Smart was completed in 2009 (when the programme was delivered by the regional development agencies), a review of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships was completed in 2010, and an evaluation of Collaborative R&D was completed in 2011.
	Also, at an individual project level, the Technology Strategy Board undertakes post project evaluation at one year and five years after completion of a project, particularly to understand the economic impact.
	It is also currently undertaking work to further develop a framework to continue to build and refine its metrics and impact measures to be able to understand at a more detailed level the impact of its activities.
	The Technology Strategy Board is currently the subject of a formal triennial review which will assess its performance amongst other issues.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 401W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in his Department.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 401W.
	BIS is not able to make such an assessment. BIS refers employees with health issues to an independent medical adviser (MA) who is an occupational health expert for advice on how best to support and facilitate their return to work. The actions and support available are relative to the individual circumstances of the case.

Sustainable Development

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made on the delivery of the actions in the (a) Resource Security Action Plan and (b) Technology Strategy Board Resource Efficiency Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The key actions from the Resource Security Action Plan are on schedule for completion and are being taken forward by Government, our delivery partners WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network, Green Alliance and business.
	The Circular Economy Task Force has been convened by Green Alliance and is due to report in the summer. The Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network is developing the Resources Dashboard, a test version is currently available online at:
	www.resourcedashboard.co.uk
	and a more developed version will launch later in 2013. The TSB and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) funded Innovation Challenge Competition has been run and seven projects have now been funded, while WRAP have commissioned research into critical material flows and have launched demonstration trials to look at recovery of materials.
	The scope for applying the principle of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) more generally to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) system and proposals to expand WEEE data capture will be covered in the consultation document on the transposition of the recast of the WEEE Directive to be published by the end of March.
	A report on IPR was published by this Department in July 2012 and its findings are being considered in the context of the broader consultation exercise.
	The TSB has made good progress in delivering the actions in its Resources Efficiency Strategy. It has used a range of mechanisms to provide effective engagement with businesses working to improve efficient use of resources. For example, some 25 competitions have been launched or are planned which aim to engage innovative organisations in specific resource efficiency projects where there are demonstrable benefits and clear market opportunities.
	Additionally, the TSB has established the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network (ESKTN) which is successful in providing support to some 10,000 members in the environmental sustainability landscape, and significant collaboration has been developed between Research Councils, DEFRA, WRAP and others through the TSB's high level Resource Efficiency Steering Group to identify areas where the TSB can add most value.
	International engagement is also strong through several European ERANet schemes which focus on key sustainability issues and eco-innovation.

Trade Promotion: Libya

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will list the names and companies of those who accompanied the Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office, on his trade mission to Libya from 2 to 6 December 2012.

Kenneth Clarke: I have been asked to reply 
	as Minister without Portfolio.
	The companies which participated in the 2-6 December 2012 Middle East Association trade mission to Libya, which I led, comprised of 22 organisations from sectors including health care, education, defence, design and engineering, aviation services and oil and gas equipment.
	The companies are: WS Atkins and Partners Overseas, BAE Systems, BPP Learning Media, CTEQ Ltd, English UK, Enviro Technology Services plc, Excalibur Group Holdings Limited, General Dynamics UK Limited, HR Wallingford, James Andrew international, John Reid and Sons (Strucsteel) Ltd, London Corporate Training, Multi-Tek International, NATS Ltd, NATS Ltd, Norbain SD Limited, Salamanca Risk Management, Team Simoco, Travelex, Ultra Electronics,Universal Trade and Investment Associates, Weir Oil and Gas.

UK Trade with EU

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the balance of trade between the (a) eurozone and (b) each of the member states is with the UK.

Michael Fallon: The balance of trade between the eurozone and each EU member state with the UK can be found on the Office for National Statistics website. The latest data for goods only for the eurozone and selected member states can be found in the “UK Trade—November 2012” release on 9 January 2013 at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uktrade/uk-trade/november-2012/stb-uk-trade--november-2012.html.
	The latest trade balance for the eurozone and all member states (goods and services) can be found in the “Pink Book 2012”, Table 9.3 at
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/united-kingdom-balance-of-payments/2012/index.html
	and is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Country Series code Balance of trade (UK, £ million) 
			 Austria LGMD -1,323 
			 Belgium A8HC -2,474 
			 Cyprus A8HD 392 
			 Estonia ZWSQ 79 
			 Finland LGMG 34 
			 France LGMH -1,135 
			 Germany LGMI -15,662 
			 Greece LGMJ -242 
			 Ireland LGMK 10,112 
			 Italy LGML -2,858 
			 Luxembourg A8HF 239 
		
	
	
		
			 Malta A8HG 191 
			 Netherlands LGMM 1,301 
			 Portugal LGMN -972 
			 Slovakia ZWTD -579 
			 Slovenia ZWTC -82 
			 Spain LGMO -6,152 
			 eurozone  -19,131 
			 Source: ONSPB2012

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Males: Education

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education on improving the educational attainment of white boys in deprived areas.

Helen Grant: holding answer 10 January 2013
	Improving the educational attainment of white boys in deprived areas has been discussed as part of the Government's work on social mobility.
	The Social Mobility Progress report, published in May 2012 committed GEO “to explore the barriers [to social mobility] … and how they could be addressed, with an initial focus on … poor White boys”. The GEO is currently taking this forward.

Marriage

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with the Church in Wales on proposals to prohibit the Church in Wales from conducting same-sex marriages.

Helen Grant: The Church in Wales responded to the consultation on equal civil marriage and its views were considered as the Government's proposals on equal marriage were developed. However, it was appropriate that the proposals were shared with Parliament first.
	We continue to have constructive engagement with the Church in Wales as we work towards introducing legislation to Parliament.

DEFENCE

Service Complaints Systems

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that service complaints systems work efficiently, effectively and fairly.

Mark Francois: The Government remain committed to an efficient, effective and fair system of service complaints, and draws on the advice of the independent service complaints commissioner in achieving this. She has highlighted the fundamental importance of the timely handling of complaints. Learning from her recommendations, our continuous improvement work and our recent review of the system, we are making changes focused on improving timeliness.
	In addition, from January this year we have a new arrangement for working with the commissioner, so that she can comment on live cases if she sees the kind of procedural delay which can lead to escalation, dissatisfaction and additional time taken to reach resolution. We are also restructuring the way we monitor progress on complaints, to help identify the causes of undue delay, so that we can act to prevent recurrence.

Syria

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the options for military assistance to the Syrian opposition.

Andrew Robathan: We continue to believe that a diplomatic and political solution is the best way to resolve the crisis in Syria, but do not however rule out any option in accordance with international law that might save innocent lives and prevent the destabilisation of the region.

RAF Form 856B

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how an ex-serviceman who has legally changed his name to escape harassment can obtain a revised copy of his RAF Form 856B Certificate of Qualifications document in his new name.

Mark Francois: The RAF form 856B Certificate of Qualifications no longer exists. As such, it is not possible to obtain a revised copy if a person has legally changed their name. I wrote to the hon. Lady about this issue in November as did my predecessor in August and September.

Defence Attaché Network

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the Defence Attaché network.

Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence keeps the Defence Attaché Network under constant review. It forms a key element of international Defence engagement and is central to our cross-departmental commitment to overseas security co-operation.

Veterans: Homelessness

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle homelessness among veterans; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence works closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the devolved Administrations which have responsibility for this issue. We also work with other Government Departments, ex-service organisations and other service providers to ensure a co-ordinated and structured approach. Our aim is to prevent new service leavers becoming homeless and to provide an effective safety net for ex-service personnel.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government have introduced measures to make it easier for ex-service personnel to access social housing. They recently regulated that local authorities shall not apply residence criteria to members and former members of the armed forces, and will also seek to introduce regulation so that local authorities give them additional preference.
	Following the success of Mike Jackson House, a 25-unit supported housing project for ex-service personnel which opened in Aldershot in 2008, The Beacon was officially opened in March 2012 in Catterick. It provides a 31-bed facility for veterans at risk of homelessness. These houses are both managed by Riverside English Churches Housing Group on land donated by the MOD, and offer short-term housing, training and employment support while ex-service personnel plan their return to independent living.

NATO Member States

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to encourage other NATO member states to contribute to operations.

Andrew Murrison: We are constantly engaged in discussions with our Allies about contributions to operations. The UK is a leading advocate for Allies prioritising their defence spending to deliver deployable capabilities for operational purposes. As important as having the right capabilities is the political will to use them: this is a point we stress constantly both bilaterally and when NATO Defence Ministers meet, as they will, in Brussels next month.

Reservists

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely proportion of reservists who will participate in future operational deployments.

Andrew Robathan: The proportion of reserves deployed on future operations will depend on the type of operation, taking account of factors such as its scale and complexity. The Government has already announced, however, that under Army 2020 we expect the reserves to play an increasingly important and integrated role in the future, operating in formed combat and support units in addition to providing augmentation and particular specialisms as they do already.

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, column 491W, on Afghanistan, from which ranks those personnel who have served tours of more than (a) eight, (b) nine, (c) 12, (d) 18 and (e) 24 months came.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 6 December 2012
	Providing this information may lead to the identification of those individuals who are serving or have served in Afghanistan. As such, I am withholding further details as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of the members of the armed forces.

Afghanistan

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on cases brought by public interest lawyers against the Government on behalf of Afghan nationals. [Official Report, 29 January 2013, Vol. 557, c. 3MC.]

Andrew Robathan: The total cost to date of cases brought by Public Interest Lawyers Ltd on behalf of Afghan nationals (including cases brought on behalf of UK nationals relating to the interests of Afghan nationals) is approximately £1,451,000, excluding the cost of Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff time.
	In addition, the MOD has incurred costs of around £683,000 on cases brought on behalf of Afghan nationals by other firms including Leigh Day and Co.

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the cost of repatriating equipment back to the UK following the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence is still in the process of determining what pieces of equipment and materiel should be repatriated from Afghanistan, and by what means. We are therefore currently unable to give accurate figures for the cost of doing so.

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the required budget of the Afghan security forces from 2015; and what contribution the UK will make.

Andrew Robathan: The initial annual budget will be $4.1 billion. We believe this will be sufficient for the force levels required and it will be reviewed regularly against the developing security environment. At the 2012 Chicago summit, the UK announced an annual contribution of £70 million towards this total, which is in addition to maintaining our current development assistance of £178 million a year.
	As the Afghan economy and the revenues of the Afghan Government grow, Afghanistan's yearly share will increase progressively from at least US$500 million in 2015, with the aim that it can assume, no later than 2024, full financial responsibility for its own security forces. In the light of this, during this so called ‘Transformation Decade’ we expect international donors will be able to reduce their financial contributions commensurate with the Afghan Government taking over financial responsibility.

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the combat-enabling functions of the Afghan National Army.

Andrew Robathan: We carry out formal assessments on the capability of the Afghan National Security Forces on a routine and regular basis.
	There has been real progress in the development of the Afghan National Army (ANA) since the NATO Training Mission—Afghanistan was established in 2009. Their capacity and capability has improved significantly in this time. They are now deploying in formed units, carrying out their own operations and conducting their own training. Nationally, the Afghan National Security Forces as a whole now lead 80% of conventional operations and carry out 90% of their training.
	The ANA still depend on ISAF allies for some key enablers. Ensuring the ANA's ability to sustain and enable its own operations will be a major focus of ISAF's efforts in Afghanistan over the next two years. The NATO Training Mission—Afghanistan recognise that developing their logistic capability, medical care and air support in particular will be essential to ensuring they become a fully sustainable force.

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the UK's long-term contribution to the Afghan National Military Academy will be; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) is located at the Qargha site, outside Kabul, which will also be home to the Afghan National Army Officer Academy where the UK will be the coalition lead partner.
	At its peak UK support to the Afghan National Army Officer Academy will include approximately 90 mentoring staff. UK military personnel will also be deployed to sustain and protect our advisory footprint.
	The NMAA modelled after the US Military Academy at West Point, is a US-sponsored officer training institution running since November 2008. It is not directly supported by the UK.
	Together the National Military Academy of Afghanistan and the Afghan National Army Officer Academy will form part of the Afghan National Defence University.

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the metrics his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of Afghan security forces.

Andrew Robathan: Much of our assessment on the development of the Afghan National Security Forces effectives is based on International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) data. My right hon. Friend will understand that this information is both classified and owned by ISAF and therefore cannot be released.

Air Force: Air Traffic Control

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which radars and control centres in Scotland will be upgraded as a part of Project Marshall; and when he expects Project Marshall to begin;
	(2)  whether (a) Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord, (b) Remote Radar Head Benbecula and (c) Control and Reporting Centre Buchan will have a military role under plans set out in Project Marshall;
	(3)  how much will be spent under Project Marshall in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) overseas; and what proportion of total spending under the project will be allocated to each such area.

Philip Dunne: Radars and control centres at RAF Kinloss, RAF Lossimouth, Hebrides Ranges (St Kilda and Benbecula) RAF Tain, West Freugh Range, Cape Wrath Range (Garvey Island) and HMS Gannet (Prestwick) are currently within the scope of Project MARSHALL. It is planned that the Terminal Air Traffic Management capability provided by the equipment at these locations will in future be provided through a service provision under Project MARSHALL, the exact location of equipment to support these services being subject to the detail of the winning bidder's proposed solutions. Project MARSHALL is currently in the Assessment Phase and bidders have yet to present their proposed solutions. As such, information on the possible expenditure by location has yet to be determined. Contract award is planned for 2015, at which point MOD would move forward with the chosen solution.
	Saxa Vord, Benbecula and Buchan are Air Defence sites and their military role is unaffected by Project MARSHALL.

Armed Forces: Crime

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which services are not offered to armed forces personnel who are victims of crime where they refuse to give their consent for their commanding officer to be notified; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: All armed forces personnel who are victims of relevant criminal conduct wherever it occurs (United Kingdom or overseas) are entitled to and offered, if practical, immediate unfettered access to victim support services, regardless of whether they choose to consent for their commanding officer to be notified. The service police will ask for consent to pass their details to victim support services who are completely independent of the military chain of command. They will also provide the victim with the contact details of such support services, should the victim wish to make independent contact at a later date. In the United Kingdom, serving personnel who are victims can access the same services as their civilian counterparts. For those serving (and their dependents) overseas, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association run an accredited independent victim support scheme for the military community.
	Recognising the unique nature of military service the Ministry of Defence has a non statutory Code of Practice on services to be provided by the armed forces to victims of crime (Joint Service Publication 839). This is modelled on the Ministry of Justice Code which was originally issued by the Home Office under section 32 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, but tailored to meet the requirements of the armed forces. It is mandatory and governs the minimum level of service to be provided. The Code requires among others, for commanding officers to provide certain services in addition to the professionally trained victim support detailed above.
	Withholding consent for a commanding officer to be informed does not preclude a victim from approaching their own unit welfare services which, if they deem it appropriate, can provide all of the services a commanding officer would be mandated to in accordance with the Joint Service Publication.
	The victim liaison officer is a person appointed by the suspect's commanding officer and is responsible for keeping the victim informed of events in respect of relevant conduct concerning the suspect or accused. In the event that the suspect and the victim are from within the same unit, and the victim does not wish the Commanding Officer to be informed, the unit welfare services are, again, empowered to appoint a victim liaison officer while maintaining the confidentiality of the victim.

Armed Forces: Lost Property

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of JSP 839 in (a) recording losses of equipment and (b) preventing future losses; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The reporting and categorisation of materiel losses is undertaken in accordance with JSP 886 (Defence Logistics Support Chain Manual), This JSP is routinely reviewed to assess and maintain the effectiveness of our procedures for recording losses; the last major review was undertaken during financial year 2010-11. This confirmed that the JSP provides robust policy advice but also recommended improvements to the reporting framework which have been implemented.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the Royal Military Police has in investigating allegations of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) assault by penetration in the (i) Royal Navy and (ii) Royal Air Force.

Mark Francois: The Royal Military Police normally only investigate allegations of rape, sexual assault or assault by penetration involving Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel if an incident is alleged to have occurred in an overseas base or theatre of operations for which the Royal Military Police have the Service Police lead. More generally, allegations involving members of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel are dealt with by their respective Service Police force (the Royal Navy Police or the Royal Air Force Police) or by the civilian police.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the Office of Standards of Casework has in reviewing data in relation to (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) assault by penetration; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Office for Standards of Casework (Army) is responsible for reviewing proven Summary Hearing cases, Courts Martial and administrative casework (where a major sanction has been awarded) for all offence types, including rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration, in order to ensure that casework is dealt with fairly and in a timely manner. While this responsibility relates primarily to Army cases, in instances where there are joint units and organisations for which the Army is the Higher Authority for disciplinary and administrative matters, these cases may include some Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel.
	Offences of rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration can only be dealt with by Court Martial. The role of the Office for Standards of Casework (Army) is to review the paper and electronic records held in relation to each Court Martial to ensure that the processes which have been followed are in accordance with regulations and that the records held are accurate. It is also responsible for identifying and sharing best practice and identifying remedial action to eliminate delay and inefficiency.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving armed forces personnel have been convicted of assault by penetration in a civilian court since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Currently, there are no serving armed forces personnel who have been convicted in civil court for assault by penetration who are subject to the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
	Records are not held centrally of any convictions where MAPPA do not apply and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the (a) rank and (b) gender composition of court martial juries in each case of (i) rape, (ii) sexual assault and (iii) assault by penetration since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Information on the gender composition of court martial boards is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the guidance in relation to the selection of court martial juries in cases of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) assault by penetration; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: A court martial is constituted in accordance with section 155 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, which is available from the Government's legislation website:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/52/contents
	The composition of a board of members for a court martial is governed by specific statutory provisions within the Armed Forces Act 2006 (section 156 and section 157) and The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 (rules 29, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 36), which are a Statutory Instrument and also available on the same website at the following address:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2041/contents/made
	Specification of board members (effectively the equivalent of jury selection in a civil court) is conducted by or on behalf of the Ministry of Defence's court administration officer, a civil servant appointed by the Defence Council who is independent of the armed forces chain of command. The court administration officer, or his representative, is responsible for specifying court martial board members to ensure they are eligible in accordance with the Armed Forces Act 2006 and The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009. In general terms, the size of a court martial board is primarily dictated by the seriousness of the offence. Lesser offences have boards of three members while the more serious offences (including sexual offences) generally attract boards of five members or more. All board members must be of at least the same rank or senior to the defendant.
	Beyond complying with the law, the court administration officer does not specify board members by rank, sex, ethnicity, age etc. However, if, upon representation from the prosecution and/or defence, the Judge Advocate directs that one or more board members are to be of a particular type or to have a particular qualification, the court administration officer complies with the direction.

Armed Forces: Social Security Benefits

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had on the potential effect of benefit changes on members of the armed forces and reserves.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence maintains regular contacts with the Department for Work and Pensions, on how changes to the benefit system could impact on service personnel, and on what action might need to be taken in consequence.

Base Review

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to conclude his Base Review.

Andrew Robathan: The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement, on 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, introduced some factors that we need to take into account such as new arrangements for accessing private finance. It is right that we take time to explore these funding opportunities.
	We will make an announcement on the outcome of the basing review as soon as possible.

British Overseas Territories

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the suitability of (a) unmanned underwater vehicles and (b) unmanned aerial vehicles for the task of the protection of the waters of British Overseas Territories from illegal fishing.

Andrew Robathan: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer the then Minister for the Armed Forces, the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey), gave on 7 February 2012, Official Report, column 182W. As the Royal Navy is not tasked to carry out this role, no such assessment has been made.

Climate Assessments

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many climate assessments have been completed by his Department since 2010; if he will place a copy of each climate assessment in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Since financial year 2009-10 the Ministry of Defence has carried out some 38 Climate Impact Risk Assessments. This work is part of an ongoing commitment to ensure the Ministry of Defence estate is resilient to the direct and indirect impacts of current and future climates and extreme weather events.
	Given the security implications of these assessments it would not be appropriate to place them in the Library of the House.

Defence Equipment

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the cost of recuperating non-urgent operational requirements equipment lost, damaged or prematurely worn out will be met from the core defence budget or the Treasury Special Reserve.

Philip Dunne: HM Treasury reimburse Ministry of Defence for the net additional costs associated with the demonstrable increase in wear and tear on non-urgent operational assets as a consequence of operational use.

European Fighter Aircraft: Oman

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Typhoon airframes for export to Oman under the contract signed by BAE Systems in December 2012 will be assembled in Lancashire.

Philip Dunne: It is planned that final assembly of all 12 of the Typhoon aircraft ordered from BAE Systems by the Government of Oman in December 2012 will be undertaken in Lancashire.

Fuels: Pipelines

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual cost of operating the Government Pipeline and Storage System was in each of the last three years.

Philip Dunne: The annual operating costs of the Government Pipeline Storage System are in the region of £30 million.
	I am withholding details of the exact operating costs as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests during the future sale of the Government Pipeline Storage System.

Fuels: Pipelines

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the market value of the Government Pipelines and Storage System.

Philip Dunne: The value of the Government Pipelines and Storage System (GPSS) was estimated in 2011 to inform the economic justification for the legislative provisions required to allow the sale of the system. These provisions form part of the Energy Bill. The valuation will be updated during the sale process and will be used in a final value for money assessment prior to sale.
	Given the commercial sensitivity it would be inappropriate to disclose any valuation of the GPSS at this stage.

HMS Vigilant

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of damage to the rudder of HMS Vigilant; and what estimate he has made of the cost of its repair;
	(2)  how long it will take to repair the rudder of HMS Vigilant;
	(3)  how the damage to the rudder of HMS Vigilant was caused.

Philip Dunne: While returning from her Demonstration and Shakedown Operations, HMS Vigilant suffered a defect to her lower rudder. Initial remedial action was carried out while the submarine was alongside in the US and she has subsequently returned to the UK. Investigations into the cause of the defect are ongoing, but initial investigations suggest this was not the result of grounding or collision.
	Further repair work will be undertaken during the submarine's next planned maintenance period; the total cost of repairs has not yet been calculated.

Katrice Lee

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2012, Official Report, columns 904-5W, on Katrice Lee, if he will (a) list and (b) publish the specific failings of the previous investigations; and if he will confirm that an independent civilian police force will have access to all papers and evidence from the original 1981 investigation.

Mark Francois: The Royal Military Police are re-investigating the circumstances surrounding Katrice Lee's disappearance. Among other things, they are analysing the earlier investigative material, and putting it onto the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES) to ensure that it is properly allowed for in the current investigation. This work is ongoing but the Royal Military Police have already acknowledged that the previous investigations were flawed, and have sincerely apologised to Katrice's family for these failings. However, they will not be in a position to report on any failings until they are certain that this would not impact on the current investigation.
	The Provost Marshal (Army), the Chief Officer of the Royal Military Police, has undertaken to meet with the Lee family again in the spring, to update them on the investigative strategy and to give the family a further opportunity to air their concerns. He has also confirmed that on conclusion of the current investigation, he will ask an independent civilian police force to review the current investigation and to review the Royal Military Police's findings in relation to the earlier investigations. The civilian force will have full access to all the papers and evidence, including those from the 1981 investigation.

Lost Property

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) civilians and (b) armed forces personnel have had deductions from their pay following the investigation of lost equipment in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many individuals identified as being responsible for the loss of military equipment have faced internal disciplinary action, and what sanctions have been applied in each such case in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Department takes the loss of equipment, for whatever reason, very seriously. All reported and discovered losses are thoroughly investigated and, where appropriate, recovery action is taken against those responsible.
	Information on internal disciplinary action relating to the loss of military equipment over the last three years is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of civilians and Service personnel who had deductions from their salaries is recorded but whether it was attributable to equipment loss cannot easily be extracted from the data and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 619W, on Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, whether fraud investigations are only triggered if fraud affects defence capability rather than fraud which constitutes a financial loss to his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: A financial loss to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) may affect defence capability and as such it is one of a number of factors in determining whether a fraud investigation by the MOD Police should commence.

Shipping

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when recent trends in the number of UK Merchant Navy seafarers were last discussed with the First Sea Lord; and whether he plans to have such discussions in the next year.

Andrew Robathan: The Secretary of State for Defence has frequent dialogue with senior armed forces personnel although no specific discussions have taken place with the First Sea Lord on trends in the number of UK Merchant seafarers.
	Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defence is aware of the trend in the numbers of UK Merchant seafarers through the First Sea Lord's membership of the Chamber of Shipping.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 626W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in his Department.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has no plans to make such an assessment, although my officials remain aware of evolving best practices in health and well-being. We recognise that the health of the Department's civilian staff is central to their performance at work, and the contribution they make to Defence outputs. While the MOD compares favourably with other large departments in terms of sickness absence rates, we are not complacent. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State has very recently nominated a 'Health & Wellbeing Champion' at a senior level who will be responsible for supporting and encouraging progress on particular aspects of the Department's health and well-being agenda, as well as promoting the topic throughout the organisation.

South Atlantic

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to ensure a permanent Royal Naval presence in the South Atlantic.

Andrew Robathan: The Royal Navy has a permanent presence in the South Atlantic in the form of the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel HMS Clyde. Clyde is supported by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tanker. In addition, Atlantic Patrol Task (South) is a standing Navy commitment for a Frigate or a Destroyer which provides a wide ranging presence in the South Atlantic all year round. Throughout the austral summer, the RN Ice Patrol Vessel, HMS Protector is present in the region.

Temporary Employment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many temporary staff have been recruited in his Department in each month from July to December 2012.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence uses a process called "manpower substitution" to engage temporary staff through a number of contracts. Manpower substitutes are agency workers employed for up to 11 months to fill vacant, funded posts until permanent recruitment action is taken. The majority of these staff are brought in to fill medical and dental requirements at military medical centres to cover for military positions that are vacant due to deployment into operational theatre. Other types of manpower substitutes include specialist IS staff, project managers, accountants, clerical and administration and drivers.
	The number of temporary staff recruited in each month from July to December 2012 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 2012 Number of staff 
			 July 324 
			 August 261 
			 September 256 
			 October 303 
			 November 228 
			 December 127 
			 Total 1,499

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what amount his Department has spent to date on procurement of new submarines and weapons systems in advance of the main gate decision on Trident replacement in 2016.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 7 January 2013
	Expenditure on the concept and assessment phases for the Successor submarine programme, up to 30 November 2012, the latest date for which figures are available, amounted to some £1.38 billion.
	As the hon. Member will be aware, no decision has yet been taken on whether to refurbish or replace the existing warhead design. Studies are, however, under way to inform this decision. Expenditure on these studies up to 30 November 2012, the latest date for which figures are available, amounted to some £54.6 million.

Trident

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the report, Trident Alternatives Review and the future of Barrow, published in December 2012 by the Nuclear Education Trust.

Philip Dunne: None. The BAE Systems shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness is the only facility in the UK that can build nuclear submarines, and the Government's policy remains as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010, that we will maintain a continuous submarine-based deterrent and will begin the work of replacing the Vanguard class submarines. The Ministry of Defence is therefore continuing work on the assessment phase of the Successor submarine programme, to inform a Main Gate decision in 2016. In order to help the Liberal Democrats consider the case for alternatives, the Cabinet Office is leading a review into whether there are alternative systems and postures that could maintain a credible deterrent. That review is being overseen by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

Trident

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a list the members and affiliations of the joint Industry/MOD Integrated Programme Management Team (IPMT) established to oversee the development of the Trident nuclear submarine replacement programme; if he will set out the time period over which IPMT has developed the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) to align the different processes of the programme; and if he will publish the IMS.

Philip Dunne: The role of the Integrated Programme Management Team (IPMT) is to manage the delivery of the Successor submarine programme. It comprises 29 personnel from the Ministry of Defence, 18 from BAE Systems Maritime—Submarines, eight from Babcock Marine and nine from Rolls-Royce. I am withholding the names of the individual members of the IPMT as this is personal data that cannot be released.
	The Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) is the consolidated plan linking all the activities required to deliver the Successor submarine programme. It is maintained on a continuous basis. I am withholding publication of the IMS as its disclosure would prejudice national security and commercial interests, and because it relates to the formulation of Government policy.

Veterans

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department is providing for local authorities to support veterans and military communities.

Mark Francois: We launched the Armed Forces Community Covenant Scheme in 2011 to complement the armed forces covenant at the local level. I am encouraged by the success of these local partnerships, made between the armed forces in a given region and their local authority, joined by local businesses, organisations, charities and other bodies as appropriate. Well over 200 have now been signed.
	Community covenants have the common aim of encouraging local communities to support the armed forces community in their area and for the service community to promote understanding and awareness by the public of issues affecting them. Also, in this context, many local authorities have already appointed local armed forces champions, working locally to improve access to services and support for serving and ex-service men and women, and their families.
	We have established the Community Covenant Grant Scheme to support the community covenant funding local projects that bring together the civilian and armed forces communities. Some £5 million has already been allocated to projects ranging from drop-in centres to children's play areas.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Internet: Child Protection

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to protect children on the internet; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 10 January 2013
	I am a co-chair of the Executive Board for the UK Council on Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). Through UKCCIS Government is working to create practical and effective ways to help keep children safe online; including asking internet service providers to actively encourage parents to switch on parental controls.
	UKCCIS is also working with the main manufacturers and retailers toward putting in place device level solutions to filter inappropriate content and with providers of public WiFi services to automatically filter adult content on services provided directly to the public.
	The Prime Minister has recently appointed my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Claire Perry) as his adviser on the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood. She will be working with Reg Bailey, UKCCIS, and Ministers to press the internet industries to deliver universally-available family-friendly internet access which is easy to use.

Betting

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she plans to alter the stakes and rate of play of fixed odds betting terminals; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Government has committed to review the evidence around category B2 gaming machines (fixed odds betting terminals) and will announce shortly how this will be progressed.

Betting

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking (a) to address the clustering of betting shops on high streets and (b) in respect of the profitability of fixed odds betting terminals;
	(2)  whether her Department plans to take action to restrict the stakes, content and availability of fixed odds betting terminals.

Hugh Robertson: Ministers are aware of the concerns many have about the impact on local communities of betting shops and in particular the category B2 gaming machines (also referred to as fixed odds betting terminals) they offer. However, it would be wrong to impose any restrictions without clear evidence of harm. The Government has therefore committed to looking at the evidence around B2 gaming machines and will announce shortly the timing and scope of that review.

Consultants

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on external consultancy since 2010.

Hugh Robertson: Total expenditure on external consultants for the period April 2010 to December 2012 has been £5.56 million. The vast majority of the use of consultants has been due to two finite major projects—the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and broadband rollout administered by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK). These two projects apart, there has been an overall decrease in the use of external consultancy during this period.

Creative Industries Council

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the agenda for the next Creative Industries Council meeting in January 2013 will be.

Edward Vaizey: The agenda for the next Creative Industries Council meeting has not yet been set, however meeting notes will be published on the DCMS website in due course.

Creative Industries Council

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Ministers from (a) her Department and (b) other Government Departments will attend the next Creative Industries Council meeting in January 2013.

Edward Vaizey: The Creative Industries Council is jointly chaired by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), along with Industry Chair, Nicola Mendelsohn. In addition, as the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, I will also attend.

Creative Partnerships

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is her policy that creative partnerships should be replaced by local initiatives as well as Arts Council provision.

Edward Vaizey: This Government welcomes the idea of local initiatives working in partnership with the public sector nationally and locally to provide opportunities for children and young people to enjoy a wide range of cultural experiences. Our policy for improving cultural education recognises the contribution of all providers in enhancing the range of cultural education available. This necessarily means that there will be a great deal of local initiative in the provision of cultural education, and our policy is to facilitate that, rather than simply to replace Creative Partnerships. For example, Arts Council England's 10 Bridge organisations around the country will connect schools and communities with other National portfolio organisations and others in the cultural sector, including museums and libraries.

Culture

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list all discussions she has had with local council leaders regarding cuts to local culture budgets.

Edward Vaizey: The Department publishes details of all Ministerial meetings with external organisations, since May 2010, on its transparency website at the following link:
	http://www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/category/other/meetings/

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many research contracts commissioned by her Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Hugh Robertson: In the years requested, the following number of research contracts were not competitively tendered by the Department.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 2 
			 2011 2 
			 2012 2 
		
	
	The awarding of contracts by Government Departments is subject to Central Government Procurement Guidance. In each case the relevant organisation was the only one who held the base data required, which is why these were not tendered.

Trafford Housing Trust

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has held on the effect of the recent legal case between Mr Adrian Smith and Trafford Housing Trust on her Department's policies on freedom of speech for staff.

Helen Grant: I have not held any discussions on the effect of this case, which was about the contractual relationship between an employee and his employer, involving the use of social media.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Bishops: Females

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the honourable Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions he has had on the emergency powers or procedures available to expedite the passage of a new Women Bishops Measure.

Tony Baldry: I refer the hon. Member to the memorandum from the Secretary General of the General Synod which was placed in the Library of the House on 19 December.
	It is my understanding that the working group established by the House of Bishops had its first meeting on 3 January and meets again on 30 January in preparation for facilitated discussions with a larger group and a meeting of the House of Bishops in the first week of February.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments: Greater London

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people attended an accident and emergency unit with (a) an immediate urgent need and (b) a non-urgent need, by each hospital trust in London, in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people attending accident and emergency units in each hospital trust in London with (a) immediate urgent needs and (b) non-urgent needs were seen within four hours in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Data is collected at trust level. The number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances at national health service trusts in London during 2011 and 2012 is shown in the following tables. The data does not differentiate between immediate urgent and non urgent categories.
	
		
			 A&E attendances at NHS London trust organisations in London, 2011 and 2012 
			  2011 
			  Attendances Total time in A&E over four hours 
			 Organisation name Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Total Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Total 
			 Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) — — 22,010 22,010 — — 559 559 
			 Bromley PCT — — 63,839 63,839 — — 20 20 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT — — 20,449 20,449 — — 3 3 
			 Barnet PCT — — 54,339 54,339 — — 16 16 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT — — 27,128 27,128 — — — — 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT — — 37,555 37,555 — — — — 
			 Newham PCT — — 6,471 6,471 — — 33 33 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT — — 5,192 5,192 — — — — 
			 Hounslow PCT — — 2,694 2,694 — — — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT — — 7,477 7,477 — — — — 
			 Westminster PCT — — 8,589 8,589 — — — — 
			 Wandsworth PCT — — 14,867 14,867 — — — — 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT — — 11,522 11,522 — — — — 
			 Waltham Forest PCT — — 14,748 14,748 — — 11 11 
			 Ealing Urgent Care Centre—Ealing Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 Barts Health NHS Trust n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 86,543 — — 86,543 3,070 — — 3,070 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 118,012 — 18,498 136,510 4,932 — 23 4,955 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 82,016 — 31,888 113,904 2,556 — 11 2,567 
			 North East London NHS Foundation Trust — — 21,222 21,222 — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 102,282 8,296 — 110,578 2,824 2 — 2,826 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 60,450 — 35,613 96,063 2,445 — 313 2,758 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 184,939 8,686 7,518 201,143 18,584 130 — 18,714 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 105,050 — — 105,050 2,216 — — 2,216 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 104,805 8,306 12,426 125,537 4,550 45 16 4,611 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 135,779 13,736 11,946 161,461 5,679 — — 5,679 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 111,318 — — 111,318 3,172 — — 3,172 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 112,262 5,339 12,361 129,962 3,478 2 — 3,480 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 119,153 — 44,195 163,348 5,768 — 7 5,775 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 126,707 21,192 — 147,899 5,459 70 — 5,529 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 90,885 — — 90,885 3,570 — — 3,570 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 71,497 — 34,115 105,612 4,348 — 162 4,510 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 126,118 — 22,264 148,382 6,237 — — 6,237 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust — 78,443 — 78,443 — 721 — 721 
			 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust — — 37,559 37,559 — — 140 140 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 113,453 — — 113,453 1,698 — — 1,698 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 77,889 — 31,050 108,939 3,238 — 77 3,315 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 109,239 — — 109,239 3,279 — — 3,279 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 133,076 — 97,088 230,164 8,734 — 230 8,964 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 150,104 — — 150,104 4,726 — — 4,726 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 127,028 6,665 8,016 141,709 3,888 10 55 3,953 
			 East London NHS Foundation Trust — — 4,566 4,566 — — 24 24 
			 Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust — — 34,903 34,903 — — 17 17 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 131,669 33,972 98,348 263,989 5,246 23 35 5,304 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 176,399 6,696 3,974 187,069 12,875 21 2 12,898 
		
	
	
		
			  2012 
			  Attendances Total time in A&E over four hours 
			 Organisation name Type1 Type2 Type3 Total Type1 Type2 Type3 Total 
			 Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) — — — — — — — — 
			 Bromley PCT — — 1,598 1,598 — — — — 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Barnet PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Newham PCT — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Hounslow PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Westminster PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Wandsworth PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Waltham Forest PCT — — — — — — — — 
			 Ealing Urgent Care Centre—Ealing Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 Barts Health NHS Trust 244,985 6,037 75,381 326,403 12,910 26 190 13,126 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 92,346 — — 92,346 3,821 — — 3,821 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 122,317 — 25,638 147,955 5,123 — 20 5,143 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 86,111 — 55,407 141,518 3,805 — 18 3,823 
			 North East London NHS Foundation Trust — — 54,654 54,654 — — — — 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 104,655 9,230 — 113,885 4,025 32 — 4,057 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 41,161 — 63,795 104,956 2,687 — 681 3,368 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 207,921 11,622 28,511 248,054 29,030 269 22 29,321 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 70,602 — 59,690 130,292 2,582 — 278 2,860 
			 Whipps cross university hospital NHS trust 23,091 1,917 15,470 40,478 2,044 7 26 2,077 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 137,893 12,800 15,641 166,334 7,888 — — 7,888 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 115,477 — — 115,477 5,407 — — 5,407 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 78,287 5,361 54,781 138,429 5,982 6 465 6,453 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 135,930 — 36,183 172,113 6,534 — 35 6,569 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 131,898 19,678 — 151,576 6,596 16 — 6,612 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 93,549 — — 93,549 4,354 — — 4,354 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 22,657 — 8,431 31,088 1,309 — 61 1,370 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 35,275 — 1,803 37,078 1,563 — — 1,563 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust — 81,941 — 81,941 — 369 — 369 
			 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust — — 37,543 37,543 — — 146 146 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 114,167 — — 114,167 1,698 — — 1,698 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 87,632 — 32,480 120,112 4,042 — 79 4,121 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 117,858 — — 117,858 5,712 — — 5,712 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 108,607 — 106,040 214,647 9,706 — 242 9,948 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 157,279 — — 157,279 6,685 — — 6,685 
		
	
	
		
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 115,152 6,514 20,988 142,654 4,221 37 225 4,483 
			 East London NHS Foundation Trust — — — — — — — — 
			 Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust — — 46,550 46,550 — — 34 34 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 135,712 36,794 108,342 280,848 6,596 208 130 6,934 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 166,634 15,036 80,571 262,241 11,274 8 134 11,416 
			 Notes: Type 1 departments are 24 hour consultant led A&E departments Type 2 departments are 24 hour single specialty A&E departments Type 3 departments include Walk in Centres, Minor Injuries Units and Urgent Care centres Source: Department of Health Knowledge and Information Centre

Ambulance Services

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what type of vehicle and what equipment is required to be on board when responding to an A19 call; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Department sets standards for response times to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls. It is the responsibility of individual ambulance trusts to determine the type of vehicle and equipment required to respond to those calls, based on the clinical needs of the patient.

Blood: Contamination

Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the eligibility criteria are for winter fuel payments from the Caxton Foundation to people with haemophilia infected with hepatitis C as a result of their NHS treatment; and what steps he has taken to promote the take-up of such payments.

Anna Soubry: The eligibility criteria for the winter payments have been set by the Trustees of the Caxton Foundation. All infected individuals and widows of infected individuals registered with the Foundation will automatically receive a winter payment.

Brain: Tumours

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effects on mortality of the use of temozolmide in the treatment of brain tumours.

Anna Soubry: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing advice to the national health service on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of drugs and treatments.
	In technology appraisal guidance issued in April 2001, NICE recommended temozolomide as a treatment option for some patients with recurrent malignant glioma (brain cancer), subject to certain clinical criteria.
	Temozolomide is also recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance issued in June 2007 as an option for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme, again subject to certain clinical criteria.
	NICE plans to review the need to update its guidance on temozolomide in 2015.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to local authority budgets to take place in 2015 on the implementation of (a) dementia friendly communities and (b) the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

Norman Lamb: The Government has not yet set funding levels for 2015-16 and beyond, as this falls outside of the current spending review period.
	In the 2012 autumn statement, we announced that funding levels for 2015-16 will be set in the first half of this year.
	Of course, we will consider the requirements of all policy areas when setting funding levels.
	Ultimately, funding for services to support people with dementia and their carers is a local decision. Local authorities decide how much to spend on services, based on local priorities and pressures.

Diabetes

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to support the prevention of Type 2 diabetes (a) nationally and (b) in Peterborough constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to lifestyle factors such as being overweight and physical inactivity. The Government is committed to tackling overweight and obesity, and has published ‘Healthy Lives, Health People: A call to action on obesity in England’ which sets out our commitment to key programmes such as Change4Life, and the NHS Health Check.
	We are also continuing to fund and support the full rollout of the NHS Health Check programme, which includes assessing the risk of diabetes for people aged 40-74 and supporting them in managing or reducing that risk. From April this year we propose to mandate local authorities to secure local delivery of the risk assessment element of the programme. Economic modelling has shown the potential for the programme to prevent over 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes and to detect over 20,000 cases of diabetes and kidney disease earlier.
	The NHS Health Check programme runs at 26 Peterborough practices. The Diabetes team based at the Healthy Living Centre delivers comprehensive information on the prevention, management and treatment of diabetes.
	A copy of the ‘Call to action’ has already been placed in the Library.

Emergency Calls: Admissibility of Evidence

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the recording of 999 calls is of sufficient audible quality to be used in court.

Daniel Poulter: There is currently no prescribed standard for the audible quality of the recording of 999 calls. Ambulance trusts are responsible for recording all 999 calls and for the quality of those recordings.

Glaucoma

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to increase availability of eye drop medicines Timoptol and Azopt for the treatment of glaucoma; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: We understand that Timoptol (timolol) eye drops containing preservative are freely available. Timoptol preservative-free eye drops are currently unavailable due to manufacturing problems coupled with production capacity constraints and the manufacturer, MSD, expects them to be back in stock later this year. MSD is increasing its production capacity for preservative-free ophthalmic products globally in order to meet increasing demand.
	Azopt (brinzolamide) eye drops are currently available through the normal channels.

Health Authorities

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has issued to strategic health authorities on the initiation of policies which their successor local authorities are deemed likely to reverse; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any such guidance;
	(2)  how many strategic health authorities are in the process of initiating schemes to fluoridate drinking water; what steps their successor local authorities would have to take if they wished to cancel any such schemes; whether such successor authorities would need to undertake another consultation exercise before cancelling such a scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Department has not issued any such guidance, but we are aware of one strategic health authority that is proceeding to implement a fluoridation scheme. NHS South of England is implementing a scheme to cover parts of Southampton and South West Hampshire. Last November the Department completed a consultation on the content of regulations on the arrangements for consideration of proposals on the fluoridation of water including proposals to terminate a fluoridation scheme. Our intention is to lay the regulations in February, in time for them to come into force on 1 April 2013 when responsibility for consultations on fluoridation proposals transfers to local authorities.

Health Services: North West

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints about standards of care have been received by NHS acute trusts in (a) the north-west and (b) Liverpool in each of the last two years; and how many such complaints have resulted in disciplinary action being taken against a health care professional or hospital managers.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not held in the format requested. The National Health Service Information Centre for Health and Social Care publishes annual data on written complaints on its website:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=8179&q=nhs+complaints&sort= Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top

Hernias: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 748W, on hernias: Greater London, how many finished admissions episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for hernia repair procedures in each NHS trust within the London Strategic Health Authority area in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12.

Anna Soubry: The number of finished admission episodes and mean and median time waited (days) for each hospital provider in London for hernia repair procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admissions episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for hernia repair procedures(3) at each NHS hospital provider in London SHA, 2010-11 and 2011-12, activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Procedure hernia repair 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			  Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 571 105.2 95 659 120.1 119 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 855 61.4 57 917 69.3 66 
		
	
	
		
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 727 57.1 52 649 54.1 48 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 745 66.0 56 716 86.6 73 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 526 46.4 34 553 56.8 41 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 266 72.4 71 268 62.4 57 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 589 64.9 62 608 64.1 60 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust 267 52.7 45 244 46.3 33 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 685 68.6 57 733 97.2 74 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 342 51.6 49 489 75.7 70 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 889 78.7 78 847 106.5 94 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 599 73.4 66 585 102.1 84 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 589 84.2 79 694 65.8 57 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 756 0 0 723 0 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 254 113.2 102 291 119.5 99 
			 North East London Treatment Centre Care UK 375 31.6 30 470 37.1 34 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 267 99.5 90 386 99.9 86 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 790 71.7 70 830 127.0 150 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 579 78.4 69 504 94.0 91 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 1,380 69.5 61 1,555 72.3 67 
			 Spire Roding Hospital 119 0 0 77 0 0 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 788 75.5 57 926 79.0 53 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 558 50.1 46 543 49.9 42 
			 The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 19 17.4 16 22 23.2 23 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 412 69.2 62 423 67.3 60 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 521 78.1 65 454 69.5 58 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 486 85.6 86 501 82.9 85 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 438 80.1 73 479 79.6 67 
			 (1)Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3)Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. (4) To protect patient confidentiality, counts of between one and five have been suppressed along with any further figures required to support this suppression. Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Injuries: Dogs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases the NHS treated relating to dog attacks in 2012;
	(2)  what the total cost of treating patients in 2012 who had been admitted for being attacked by a dog was.

Daniel Poulter: In 2011-12, the latest 12-month period for which firm data are available, there were 6,580 in-patient hospital episodes for injuries caused by dog attacks. No information is available centrally on the number of cases treated in accident and emergency clinics, hospital outpatient clinics or primary care, or information on the costs of treating injuries from dog attacks.

Knee Replacements: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 120W, on knee replacements: Greater London, if he will publish data on the (a) number of operations and (b) waiting times for patients attending all London hospitals to have a new knee fitted in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) and mean and median time waited for knee replacement procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 attending all London hospitals is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for providers within London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of treatment, for knee replacement procedures(3) for 2010-11 
			   Days 
			 Provider name Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited Median time waited 
			 All provider trusts within London SHA 7,125 91.5 85 
			     
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 259 124.6 128 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 479 86.9 70 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 215 110.8 106 
			 BMI—Bishops Wood 21 — — 
			 BMI—Chelsfield Park Hospital 6 — — 
			 BMI—Shirley Oaks Hospital 12 65.0 65 
			 BMI—The Blackheath Hospital 16 — — 
			 BMI—The Clementine Churchill Hospital 47 — — 
			 BMI—The Garden Hospital 14 21.0 21 
			 BMI—The Kings Oak Hospital 15 — — 
			 BMI—The London Independent Hospital * — — 
			 BMI—The Sloane Hospital * — — 
			 BMI—The Cavell Hospital 15 73.6 62 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 166 94.9 87 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 6 59.5 60 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 146 78.1 87 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,293 86.9 89 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 332 96.5 77 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 117 94.4 72 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 272 111.2 111 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 211 85.0 77 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust * * * 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 162 — — 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 65 109.4 108 
			 North East London NHS Treatment Centre 316 42.5 35 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 118 133.8 123 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 368 105.2 101 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 161 120.7 121 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 463 68.8 62 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 649 114.3 111 
			 Spire Roding Hospital 10 — — 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 75 76.4 72 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 322 78.7 78 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 120 90.0 91 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 253 72.0 67 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 133 101.8 98 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 256 83.0 78 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for providers within London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of treatment, for knee replacement procedures(3) for 2011-12 
			   Days 
			 Provider name Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited Median time waited 
			 All provider trusts within London SHA 7,753 101.9 92 
		
	
	
		
			     
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 295 145.5 140 
			 Barnet And Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 363 106.5 88 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 225 108.9 102 
			 BMI—Bishops Wood 17 — — 
			 BMI—Chelsfield Park Hospital 38 — — 
			 BMI—Shirley Oaks Hospital 17 — — 
			 BMI—The Blackheath Hospital 25 — — 
			 BMI—The Clementine Churchill Hospital 78 238.0 238 
			 BMI—The Garden Hospital 6 — — 
			 BMI—The Kings Oak Hospital * — — 
			 BMI—The London Independent Hospital 15 — — 
			 BMI—The Sloane Hospital 17 — — 
			 BMI—The Cavell Hospital 27 83.4 42 
			 Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 180 107.0 102 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust * — — 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 159 84.3 84 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,452 85.1 85 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 449 66.8 57 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 102 92.4 69 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 274 164.5 167 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 187 124.4 121 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust * — — 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 211 — — 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 147 158.2 133 
			 North East London Treatment Centre Care UK 388 53.2 42 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 190 123.4 112 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 331 132.5 144 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 172 152.7 162 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 492 84.5 79 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 773 130.8 122 
			 Spire Roding Hospital 35 — — 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 64 90.3 89 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 233 87.0 90 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 124 108.0 106 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 227 68.0 63 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 149 98.6 92 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 286 93.9 93 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published referral to treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Notes: Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. 2. To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Medicine: Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse of training provided to an undergraduate medical student who graduates in 2013 is.

Daniel Poulter: The cost of training an undergraduate medical student varies widely across organisations and the Department does not collect information in this way. However, the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates that the average cost of training an undergraduate medical student in 2011 was £261,000. This figure reflects the total cost of training and therefore includes costs funded through the public purse and by the student.
	This figure includes the costs of tuition; infrastructure costs (such as libraries); costs or benefits from clinical placement activities, and lost production costs during the period of training where staff are away from their posts, as follows:
	£56,000 for tuition;
	£57,000 for living expenses/lost production costs; and
	£147,000 for clinical placements.

Medicine: Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the over-supply of UK graduate medical students to the Foundation Programme in 2013.

Daniel Poulter: The UK Foundation Programme Office, that manages recruitment to the Foundation Programme, has alerted the four UK Health Departments and Health Education England that it is likely the programmes available for August 2013 will be over-subscribed.
	We are committed to ensuring that all graduates in the United Kingdom receive a place on a foundation training programme in 2013.

Medicine: Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to manage any over-supply of UK graduate medical students to the Foundation Programme.

Daniel Poulter: The four UK Health Departments and Health Education England are considering urgently how to manage any over-supply in advance of the receipt of accurate information on the numbers involved.
	We are committed to ensuring that all graduates in the United Kingdom receive a place on a foundation training programme in 2013.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration of (a) medical, (b) educational and (c) societal costs are made in cost-benefit analyses of the funding of meningococcal B vaccinations.

Anna Soubry: A study on the cost-effectiveness of meningococcal B vaccination strategies is in preparation to support consideration about a possible meningococcal B vaccination programme by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)—the independent expert committee that provides advice to Government on immunisation.
	Development of the study will include assessment of evidence on the epidemiology and carriage of different meningococcal serogroup B strains, the possible efficacy of the vaccine and its coverage against serogroup B strains, the safety of the vaccine, the costs of treating meningococcal serogroup B disease, the costs of treating the long-term conditions that result from this disease, as well as the quality and length of life of affected individuals.
	When assessing cost-effectiveness, JCVI follows the criteria and methodology of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Assessment of cost-effectiveness is based on the impact on the quality and length of life of those affected by the disease and the impact on national health service resources. Hence, it includes the costs of health and social care for the affected individual as well as reductions in their quality of life. However, wider societal costs are not considered.

Mental Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 105W, on mental health services, if he will place in the Library the figures for each primary care trust of the investment in adult mental health for 2010-11 and 2011-12 per weighted head; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: This information is not held by the Department. The National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services, although commissioned by the Department, is produced by the company, Mental Health Strategies. You may wish to approach them directly for the information.

Mental Health Services

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Minister in his Department has responsibility for the provision of couples therapy under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Norman Lamb: The provision of couple therapy for depression under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme is within my area of responsibility.

Neurogenesis

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned or evaluated on the effects of (a) environmental factors, (b) learning and (c) stress on neurogenesis.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not commissioned or evaluated research specifically on the effects of environmental factors, learning and stress on neurogenesis.
	The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including applied health research on factors impacting on neurogenesis. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.
	Current research relevant to neurogenesis funded by the Research Councils includes a £1.5 million grant awarded by the Medical Research Council for research on genomic imprinting and the epigenetic control of developmental processes.

NHS Foundation Trusts: Dorset

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was to (a) the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust of the application to merge the two hospital trusts, to 31 December 2012; and what estimate he has made of any additional costs to be incurred by each trust before the merger application is determined by the Competition Commission.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not held by the Department.
	This is a matter for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
	We have written to the trusts' chairs, Jane Stichbury and Angela Schofield, informing them of your enquiry. They will reply shortly and copies of the letters will be placed in the Library.

Nutrition

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an assessment of the Which? report entitled A Taste for Change: Food Companies assessed for action to enable healthier choices, published in December 2012; and if he will make it his policy to implement the report's recommendations through clear and measurable targets in the Responsibility Deal and by bringing forward legislative proposals where insufficient action is taken voluntarily.

Anna Soubry: We have noted the Which? report. Our policy is clear—to take wide-ranging action to create a food environment which helps people make healthier food choices and eat more healthily. This includes action through Change4Life and through the Responsibility Deal. We are committed to working through voluntary action with business. Business is already taking action and the forward work programme of the RD Food Network covers many of the areas highlighted by Which? We have made clear that while we believe the current approach is the right way forward we have not ruled out legislation, where appropriate.

Pain

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 891W, on chronic illnesses, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people live with chronic pain in each region.

Norman Lamb: Estimates of the number and proportion of people living with chronic pain for each strategic health authority (SHA) in England are given in the following table, based on the prevalence estimates from the 2011 Health Survey for England. Differences in prevalence between SHA populations are not statistically significant after adjusting for differences in age profile.
	
		
			 Prevalence of chronic pain by strategic health authority in England, 2011 
			 Persons, age 16 and over 
			  Estimated prevalence 
			  Percentage Million 
			 North East 37 0.8 
			 North West 34 1.9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 37 1.6 
			 East Midlands 37 1.4 
			 West Midlands 37 1.7 
			 East of England 36 1.7 
		
	
	
		
			 London 28 1.8 
			 South East Coast 33 1.2 
			 South Central 33 1.1 
			 Southwest 34 1.5 
			    
			 England 34 14.7 
		
	
	Chronic pain is defined as pain or discomfort which currently troubles an individual either all of the time or on and off, and which has lasted for more than three months.
	Sources
	1. Mid-year 2011 population figures from ‘GP registered populations by SHA’, Health and Social Care Information Centre, derived from 2001 census data.
	2. Prevalence estimates from the Health Survey for England 2011, Chapter 9 Table 9.2.

Phenytoin

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the increase in cost of the Epanutin form of phenytoin sodium.

Norman Lamb: The Department has estimated the additional cost to the national health service, from the repricing of the Epanutin form of phenytoin sodium, to be around £44 million per annum. We have considered this cost in the context of the overall drugs bill, the dynamics of the medicines market, with prices rising and falling in response to supply and demand, and the potential additional costs to the NHS through adverse reactions and reduced patient outcomes if supply is interrupted.

Radiotherapy

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which NHS organisation he proposes will be responsible for commissioning the workforce for radiotherapy services;
	(2)  what funding the Government plans to make available for the purchase of new linear accelerators up to 2016.

Anna Soubry: “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published on 12 January 2011 set out a commitment to expand radiotherapy capacity by investing over £150 million in additional funding up to 2014-15. The Government has yet to set spending plans beyond 2014-15 and these will be subject to a future spending review.
	This money is provided to commissioners through baseline allocations, and commissioners can use this funding to purchase additional radiotherapy services from providers through locally negotiated tariffs or other payment mechanisms. Providers may use this income to purchase additional radiotherapy equipment to meet the increased demand.
	To encourage the national health service to update the existing medical technology infrastructure, the Department also established a £300 million fund in March 2012 to bulk purchase medical equipment, such as radiotherapy equipment, and achieve better prices for the NHS. The fund is operated by NHS Supply Chain.
	At present, strategic health authorities plan the workforce required to deliver health care services, including radiotherapy services. From April 2013, Health Education England (HEE) assumes national leadership for a new system of planning and developing the entire health and care workforce. HEE, supported by local education and training boards (LETBs), will ensure that the shape and skills of the future health and care workforce evolves to sustain high quality health outcomes for patients. All LETBs will commission the workforce for such services.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason respiratory disease was not included in the NHS Commissioning Board's list of strategic clinical networks; and what consideration he has given to assigning to an individual responsibility for strategic oversight of improvements in outcomes for respiratory patients in the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The first strategic clinical networks were chosen by the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) using criteria developed with input from a broad range of stakeholders. In summary, the chosen conditions and patient groups are ones where:
	a large scale change is required across complex pathways of care involving many professional groups and organisations and strategic clinical networks are the best approach to planning and delivering services; and
	a co-ordinated, combined improvement approach is needed to overcome certain health challenges, which have not responded previously to other improvement efforts.
	The NHS CB has made it clear that as priorities change, or when the work of one of the initial strategic clinical networks concludes, the board will identify new conditions or patient groups that would benefit from a strategic clinical network approach.
	In addition to strategic clinical networks, the NHS CB expects that some local clinical networks will also be established in the new health system. These are likely to be supported by clinical commissioning groups and providers and established to support the delivery of local priorities and ways of working.
	The NHS CB is currently in the process of recruiting a National Clinical Director for respiratory diseases.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the cost has been of reconfiguring the maternity unit at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital so that it can accommodate women's health patients; and what the estimated cost will be of restoring the previous layout after three months as planned under current arrangements;
	(2)  how many first-time mothers of babies born at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (a) left hospital on the day of birth, (b) left hospital on the second day following birth, (c) stayed in the hospital for more than two days and (d) were transferred to Poole General Hospital in 2012;
	(3)  how many mothers received post-natal support at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in 2012; and how many mothers are expected to receive that support in 2013;
	(4)  when the decision was taken to remove six of the eight post natal beds at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital; and what consultation on this decision was carried out in advance with (a) staff, (b) governors and (c) patient groups.

Daniel Poulter: This is a matter for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
	We have written to the trust's Chair, Jane Stichbury, informing her of your inquiries. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Schizophrenia

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve physical care arrangements for people suffering from schizophrenia; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The NHS Outcomes Framework sets out how the NHS will be held to account for the outcomes it delivers. The framework includes an indicator (indicator 1.5) of the excess under-75 mortality rate in adults with serious mental illness.
	Improvements to this indicator will only be possible by improving the care which people with severe mental illness receive to improve their physical health, and to treat physical health problems.
	This indicator is also included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.
	The Government has also made clear, through the Secretary of State's Mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board, that we expect mental and physical conditions to be treated in a co-ordinated way, and with equal priority. The mandate sets the NHS Commissioning Board the objective of putting mental health on a par with physical health and closing the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole.
	Improving the physical health of people with mental health problems, including severe mental illness, is one of the six objectives of the Government's mental health strategy. The strategy's Implementation Framework (published in July 2012) sets out specific actions which a wide range of local organisations can take to improve the physical health of people with mental health problems.
	Further to this, on 18 December, following reports from the Schizophrenia Commission and the National Audit of Schizophrenia, I convened a roundtable meeting with a number of leading stakeholders from health, social care and third sectors to establish how to improve care for people with schizophrenia, including the issue of how to improve their physical health. The group will be reconvening again later this year in order to update on progress.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 361W, on sick leave, if he will make an assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing workplace stress and staff absences in his Department.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not yet made any formal assessment of the contribution mindfulness-based practice can make to reducing work place stress and staff absences in the Department.
	However, the Department has signed up to both the Responsibility Deal and Time to Change pledges on mental health. Plans are under way to pilot and evaluate a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme across two Directorates in the Department over the course of the coming months as one of the proposed measures for delivering against these pledges.
	The evaluation will inform decisions about further roll out. The Department's health and well-being strategy and programme of activities for staff includes a mental health policy and a variety of activities to aid emotional well-being. The Employee Assistance Programme offers counselling support, which draws on cognitive behavioural techniques closely related to mindfulness-based methods.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the costs to the public purse of capping an individual's lifetime contribution towards their social care costs at (a) £25,000, (b) £35,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £60,000 and (e) £75,000.

Norman Lamb: The “Caring for our future: progress report on funding reform” published in July 2012 sets out the cost to Government of different levels of the cap. A copy of the document is available in the Library. Pages 33 and 34 demonstrate the costs of caps set at £25,000 with a £7,000 contribution to general living costs and caps of £35,000, £50,000, £75,000 and £100,000 with a £10,000 contribution to general living costs.
	Information on a cap of £60,000 is not available.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals would benefit from capping an individual's lifetime contribution towards their social care costs at (a) £25,000, (b) £35,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £60,000 and (e) £75,000; and what assessment he has made of the distribution of individuals in each income decile.

Norman Lamb: The “Caring for our Future: progress report on funding reform” was published in July 2012, a copy of which is available in the Library. It sets out the effect of different levels of the cap. Everyone would benefit from a cap, as it provides certainty on the maximum people could pay for their care, enabling them to plan and prepare. The care costs that people face is set out on page 3.
	Page 23 sets out the impact of different levels of a cap on individuals by their wealth. This includes the effect on people by quintile.
	We do not have information on the distribution of individuals in each income decile.

South Central Strategic Health Authority: Redundancy

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) board members, (b) executives and (c) other employees of the South Central Strategic Health Authority have received or will be receiving redundancy packages in excess of (i) £100,000, (ii) £150,000, (iii) £200,000 and (iv) £250,000; if he will list the names or positions of the 20 people receiving the largest payments, together with the sums paid to each; and whether any of those 20 individuals have been or are to be re-employed by the NHS as staff or consultants.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not held centrally. I would advise the hon. Member to write to Andrea Young, Chief Operating Officer at NHS South of England for this information.

South London Healthcare NHS Trust

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what instructions he has given to Ipsos/MORI on its role in compiling the final report of the Trust Special Administrator for the South London Healthcare Trust; and how much Ipsos/MORI is being paid for that work.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State has not given any instructions to Ipsos/MORI with regard to any content within the final report of the Trust Special Administrator (TSA) laid before Parliament and published on 8 January 2013. The report can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2013/01/south-london-healthcare/
	The TSA appointed to South London Healthcare NHS Trust has worked independently of the Government in developing recommendations for the Secretary of State for a clinically and financially sustainable solution to the financial challenges faced by South London Healthcare NHS Trust. Ipsos/MORI were appointed to support the TSA's consultation process.
	Funding to support the work of the TSA has been provided centrally by the Department. How it is used has been a matter for the TSA. Final costs are being confirmed but we are informed by the Office of the TSA that the cost of Ipsos/MORI's work for the TSA is expected to be in the region of £225,000.

Streptococcus

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what evidence the National Screening Committee used to support its decision not to introduce routine screening for group B streptococcus carriage in pregnant women;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the reasons for the rise in reported cases of group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies;
	(3)  what target his Department has set for reducing group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies;
	(4)  what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the incidence of group B streptococcus infection in newborn babies.

Daniel Poulter: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four United Kingdom countries about all aspects of screening policy, including screening policy for group B streptococcus (GBS) carriage in pregnancy. On 13 November 2012 the UK NSC recommended that a national screening programme to test for GBS carriage in pregnancy using the enriched culture medium test should not be offered. This is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening all pregnant women and treating those carrying the organism with intravenous antibiotics during labour would outweigh the harms. A copy of the UK NSC's review, ‘Screening for Group B Streptococcal infection in pregnancy’, has been placed in the Library. A copy of the evidence assessed by the UK NSC is referenced in the review.
	No assessment has been made by the Department of trends in early onset disease rates, although the latest figures show a drop in disease rates between 2010 and 2011. Laboratories across England, Wales and Northern Ireland submit data to the Health Protection Agency on GBS infection. Submission of data is voluntary, therefore completeness of reporting has varied over time and across different parts of the country.
	No target has been set by the Department on GBS infection in newborn babies but we are clear about the importance of taking the right steps to prevent GBS infection at the start of life.
	The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) published their updated guidelines on prevention of GBS on incidence of GBS infection in neonates in July 2012. The updated guideline took into account new evidence on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease. It is important that services undertake local clinical audits to ensure the effective use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis recommended by the guideline.
	In 2012 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published two clinical audit tools which include clinical audit standards, a data collection form and an action plan template for use by services that care for women in labour or for babies at risk of, or being treated for, early on-set neonatal infection.
	The Department aims to work together with the NHS, the RCOG, the Royal College of Midwives, the National Institute for Health Research Heath Technology Assessment and the pharmaceutical industry on a number of areas:
	the topic of a “point of care” test so that high-risk women can be tested at the start of labour is currently in the Health Technology Assessment prioritisation process and will be worked up for discussion in terms of relative importance, feasibility and noting any other existing and on going research;
	development of an implementation tool for use locally to audit current practice and improve implementation of the revised RCOG guideline on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease;
	including GBS as a topic within education and continuing professional development programmes for clinicians and midwives; and
	monitoring developments on vaccines against GBS infection.

Surgery: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 758W, on surgery: Greater London, how many finished admissions episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for cholecystectomy procedures in each NHS trust within the London Strategic Health Authority area in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12.

Anna Soubry: The number of finished admission episodes and mean and median time waited (days) for each NHS hospital provider in the London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area for cholecystectomy procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admissions episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for cholecystectomy procedures(3) at each NHS hospital provider in London SHA, 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			   2010-11 2011-12 
			 Procedure  Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) 
			 Cholecystectomy Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 379 95.2 84 496 115.3 111 
			  Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 331 59.8 54 308 68.4 62 
			  Barts and The London NHS Trust 284 52.9 41 287 53.4 45 
			  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 131 71.5 63 182 75.9 59 
			  Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 220 66.2 53 276 72.1 63 
			  Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 130 53.9 56 139 65.9 61 
			  Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 349 72.9 70 431 73.0 70 
			  Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust * * * * * * 
		
	
	
		
			  Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 196 66.7 62 257 107.9 95 
			  Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 141 51.8 50 205 84.4 71 
			  Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 457 71.5 68 437 97.8 86 
			  King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 259 95.7 73 256 111.8 94 
			  Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 236 62.3 55 249 59.5 47 
			  Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 201 0 0 230 0 0 
			  Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 165 85.8 88 226 99.6 88 
			  North East London Treatment Centre Care UK 164 40.0 35 199 33.1 32 
			  North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 171 116.2 117 203 102.1 97 
			  North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 327 79.8 77 368 111.6 132 
			  Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust * * * 0 0 0 
			  Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 306 80.2 74 267 66.1 58 
			  South London Healthcare NHS Trust 760 83.8 65 857 79.2 72 
			  Spire Roding Hospital 18 0 0 37 0 0 
			  St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 198 126.0 126 362 102.8 80 
			  The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 220 50.4 42 264 51.5 49 
			  The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 13 17.8 16 6 21.0 23 
			  The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 178 54.4 45 187 55.0 52 
			  University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 161 71.3 57 139 66.5 61 
			  West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 234 62.7 62 220 63.2 56 
			  Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 208 79.1 73 251 73.9 60 
			 ‘*’ = To protect patient confidentiality, counts of between 1 and 5 have been suppressed along with any further figures required to support this suppression. (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from hospital episode statistics (HES) are not the same as published referral to treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Note: Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Surgery: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 760W, on surgery: Greater London, how many finished admissions episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for (i) hip replacement, (ii) hysterectomy and (iii) cataract removal procedures in each NHS trust within the London Strategic Health Authority area in (A) 2010-11 and (B) 2011-12.

Anna Soubry: The number of finished admission episodes and mean and median time waited (days) for each NHS hospital provider in the London strategic health authority (SHA) area for hip replacement, hysterectomy and cataract removal procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 Number of finished admissions episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for hip replacement procedures(3) at each hospital provider in London SHA, 2010-11 and 2011-12, activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Procedure: Hip replacement 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			  Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 435 112.7 114 501 120.3 115 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 591 84.0 70 571 89.0 78 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 197 92.4 83 195 92.5 74 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 250 83.0 81 197 77.7 74 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 107 22.0 22 117 107.5 108 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 123 68.7 86 105 70.4 70 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,437 83.1 86 1,436 80.5 81 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 475 120.7 104 556 92.1 72 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 94 73.3 63 99 80.4 64 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 459 81.1 66 438 102.0 93 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 236 116.2 119 223 140.3 139 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 181 20.9 14 185 7.0 7 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 134 0 0 190 0 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 111 110.6 104 120 131.9 122 
			 North East London Treatment Centre Care UK 178 44.7 38 231 49.3 40 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 162 120.4 107 170 130.5 117 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 390 95.6 88 299 116.9 111 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 218 111.4 117 224 128.5 139 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 517 69.6 61 590 89.4 77 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 1,026 114.5 114 1,051 126.1 117 
			 Spire Roding Hospital 12 0 0 17 0 — 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 213 71.3 68 232 70.7 64 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 388 73.9 75 419 92.3 97 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 158 82.9 80 185 96.6 99 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 342 83.2 70 284 83.2 76 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 176 92.9 84 189 93.2 88 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 350 76.9 73 382 91.5 90 
			 (1)Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3)Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. Note: To protect patient confidentiality, counts of between one and five have been suppressed along with any further figures required to support this suppression. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of finished admissions episodes (FAEs)(1)and mean and median time waited(2 )(days) for hysterectomy procedures(3 )at each hospital provider in London SHA, 2010-11 and 2011-12, activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Procedure: Hysterectomy 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			  Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 266 85.2 85 245 100.7 106 
			 Barnet And Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 166 57.9 56 153 61.0 53 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 275 40.0 25 278 36.8 20 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 151 55.6 55 125 69.5 62 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 119 66.0 56 119 85.3 79 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 56 59.5 60 57 67.2 68 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 192 67.3 69 198 72.3 70 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 331 60.6 27 337 68.5 25 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 111 59.0 52 115 53.7 52 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 315 40.8 18 336 45.4 20 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 195 126.1 129 181 130.2 135 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 145 71.8 64 133 61.2 53 
			 Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 107 0 0 111 0 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 80 64.5 53 103 76.6 64 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 123 80.3 72 118 58.3 54 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 183 83.2 80 210 92.7 86 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (4)— (4)— (4)— 0 0 0 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 66 74.3 57 70 67.2 50 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 531 96.5 94 491 109.8 104 
			 Spire Roding Hospital 25 0 0 25 0 0 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 180 61.8 38 209 71.9 44 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 118 49.7 47 117 49.0 47 
			 The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 121 11.4 8 172 11.9 8 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 97 61.5 55 80 57.5 52 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 297 37.0 9 311 36.2 12 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 57 66.0 61 73 71.4 66 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 163 69.7 68 153 88.8 85 
			 (1)Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year (2)Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3)Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. (4) To protect patient confidentiality, counts of between one and five have been suppressed along with any further figures required to support this suppression. Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of finished admissions episodes (FAEs)(1) and mean and median time waited(2) (days) for cataract removal procedures(3) at each NHS London Hospital provider, 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			  Procedure: Cataract removal 
			  Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) Total FAEs (number) Mean time waited (days) Median time waited (days) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,572 87.1 90 2,091 96.2 107 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 523 27.5 22 599 26.6 22 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 471 36.1 29 421 40.3 40 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 566 56.2 50 572 69.7 68 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 1,531 74.1 64 2,050 77.3 65 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,968 86.9 87 1,734 74.8 73 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust 139 35.5 26 145 31.4 23 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 1,925 37.7 31 1,956 42.9 32 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 1,989 66.6 64 2,468 52.1 47 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,042 37.4 37 1,889 64.3 61 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 1,791 36.3 31 1,795 50.8 48 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 14,442 64.4 62 14,295 68.3 65 
			 North East London Treatment Centre Care UK 2,053 36.0 35 1,852 51.5 38 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 1,184 91.0 92 1,387 105.3 94 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 870 39.9 41 792 65.9 66 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 3,459 60.0 57 3,120 72.0 69 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust 5,200 50.6 49 5,320 63.5 65 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,436 61.2 61 1,699 60.8 55 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 320 66.5 62 328 77.3 71 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 2,785 46.9 46 2,416 67.0 64 
			 (1)Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3)Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Total admissions with eligible time waited information The total number of eligible admissions from which the mean and median time waited are derived. This includes waiting list and booked admissions, but not planned admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are excluded as they are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. Because of this the number of episodes used to generate the mean and median time waited is likely to be lower than the number of FAEs reported in the table. Note: To protect patient confidentiality, counts of between one and five have been suppressed along with any further figures required to support this suppression. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre